Accidental Death
by AzureSynergy
Summary: *COMPLETE* He wore black jeans a striped shirt and black Ugg boots. His long hair was tied back with a dark ribbon. "You're right," he said, "it was murder, but it was not a crime." Confusion dripped like a leaky faucet, spilling more and more of its icy fluid onto the soil of unanswered queries..."Even shadows have secrets, so let's indulge in the madness."
1. Prologue

Prologue

He wore black jeans a striped shirt and black Ugg boots. His long hair was tied back with a dark ribbon. "You're right," he said, "it was murder, but it was not a crime." Confusion dripped like a leaky faucet, spilling more and more of its icy fluid onto the soil of unanswered queries.

"What would you like your dying words to be?" The second asked. The first smiled sorely. "The scar I bear was there for a long time. Many things have happened since I got it, but its changed me. In which way its changed me, you can decide. All I know is that, that scar is the reason why I killed him." The rope lowered and tightened around his neck.

In the distance a train rolled on its tracks. The sound of trains always reminded him of that day. It was the day he would much rather forget, but forgetting was much harder than one can believe. He used to love the sound of rain against a window, he loved the smell of rain in the dirt and he loved the taste of great satisfaction when he pleased his father. He also used to love his friends and above all his family.

Not after what he discovered. That was dead to him now. All thanks to that bloody scar in his bloodied hand. Going back a couple of years would be best, but that would never happen. Gallows Manor was now literally Gallows Manor. Not only did they chop people's heads off in the court yard, but they also preferred hanging. It saved bullets and time. Nowadays time was the most important thing one could posses. In those days all he had was time.

He remembered the time when he was so angry he couldn't even speak. He remembered his talent for killing and how much he liked it. He remembered how he was able to describe his childhood in three words: It was shitty. And he remembered the love he had for the one person that meant the world to him. That person was the only one able to save him from the madness.

He thought he would go through with it- until he heard the voice of the one he loved. What that person said was the hardest thing he had ever heard in his entire existence. Yet... now he was to die at the hands of that person and it must be equally hard to his loved one as it was to him. How could either of them even consider killing the other? It was unthinkable...

He was about to be hung by the noose and his friend, that couldn't be classified as his friend, would be the executioner. He closed his eyes and smelled the wind. It licked his nose and invited him to play along. _'Soon, my friend, I would be alongside you and drift through existence. Then we can play for all eternity it the land of the lost.' _

It seemed like everybody in the court yard held their breath as the prosecutor read his crimes. All he had done since that day was perfectly summed up onto one paper. How absolutely degrading! He had worked and he had fought for his rank and they violated it and made it sound filthy!

Maybe it was. That was probably the reason he was here...no that _is_ why he's here. He has to pay for his sins and death is the best way possible. Some people were simply sent to jail for life, but what remained of the bars could not possibly be able to contain prisoners anymore. Not at all.

Nostalgia crawled along- hand in hand with a smile. He remembered that day. It was possibly the best day of his life even though he hadn't thought so at the time. Blowing up the jail was exciting and fun! That was moot now.

Most people would spend their childhood going to the beach, throwing dirt clods around or bragging about useless accomplishments. Normal people wouldn't be standing with a noose wrapped around their neck listening to all the crimes they have committed. Regular people would've run away when they saw a stranger standing in an alley.

Oh no- not him! He had to go and attempt friendship and the cost of his life. He had to go and sell his soul and be dragged down to a level so low that ground looked down upon him. Because he wanted to get revenge on the one who only had what's best in mind for him. Funny how a person can realize these things when it's too late.

Funny how someone can throw their entire life away with a simple handshake and an irremovable scar. Laughter wasn't really connected to the word funny at this moment, irony was its companion instead. Pure horrific irony.

The executioner tightened his grip around the lever. They met eyes; both silently saying their goodbye's. Never would they see each other again- and that was what gave the man heartache. Not even his death could affect him as much as now, simply the thought of never seeing the one he loved ever again caused a single tear to leave his eyes. That was the first tear he had shed in years.

Their eyes met. The mask covering his face was stony and revealed no emotion as he pulled the lever...

... and all went black.

"_Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending."_

_-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_

¤CM¤


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"I do not deny evil, nor do I believe that any human is completely free of malice. Everything must be in balance. As long as evil and good maintain an equilibrium in this world there is no problem. Perfect balance is the key to everything."

It isn't the first time. Not at all. He had had children before- one to be exact. Yet his first son hadn't come out as he had hoped. Not at all. How was he supposed to know that his first son would become a drug dealer of the highest ranks? Asura brought the death to Death city. The drug-leader torments the streets and fills it with crime and near constant gun-fights. His variety of illegal supplements supplies the people of this once safe town with nightmares and madness.

It took him years to capture his son and imprison him. It took him even longer to get the city safe again. Lord Death had promised himself that he would never again have a child- 'it would be best for the world' he had told himself. Yet now, after the imprisonment of his (hopefully) only son, the Shinigami sat with a little problem... He didn't know how this had happened. He didn't know why it happened and he certainly didn't ponder of how it came to be true. But despite his unwillingness to have another child, he was granted with another, tawnier one.

His eyes were a gold more profane than the shine of the blood grinning moon and hair a darker black then the inky emptiness of the fearful night. This small reaper definitely looked the part of a killer. And the Grim reaper was fearful of the day this boy was older. The child could not, by any means necessary, turn out like his older brother. Actually this accidentally born child should nay know of Asura's existence. It would be for the best. So when the Shinigami lifted the pale boy from the ground he vowed to discipline this child. This, second accidental son, will not follow in the slumps of his brother- not at all.

"Death the Kid, you are meant for things far greater than that of drugs, death and slander. No, you would make a difference. You would be a law enforcer and you would banish evil from this world. You would be the savoir of the new millennium and you will protect the people of the world. You are a good Kid and you will be raised in a good world. You would grow up without the knowledge of ever having a sibling and you would grow up shielded from the wrong throes of this universe until the right time, only then would you know what true balance is. Only then would you know the true value of a human life. Only then would you find a mortal soul as precious as your own. And only then would you be able to dethrone the Madness."

_Fifteen years. Fifteen fucking years had I been stuck in that rotting sack of a cell. I had forgotten what the sun looked liked. It looks like a murdering maniac who would kill at the first thought. It's absolutely perfect! Now I can take my revenge on the person who put me in that dump, and the best way to do that is to rebuild my kingdom and take what is precious to _**him**_._

_So, I'll start at the head, because without the brain nothing can function. Not to mention it's the favourite target when aiming for the dead. My father doesn't exactly count as the living. He doesn't even deserve living. I'll kill him and reign ruler of this town. I'll return to my thrown and be the new shinigami that people fear. Fear is power and they'll learn that pretty quickly._

342\. There were 342 steps to the top of the DWMA. He counted every single one of them. Why did it have to be such an asymmetrical number? Surely his father could fix it... or something. All his life he had believed his father was the best and he could do anything- why would this be any different? For a person as powerful as the grim reaper, making the steps to the entrance of his school symmetrical should be easier that eradicating a witch.

Its bothering him, he can't stop thinking about it! He wanted to yell at the person who designed these steps! Why make the institute of death weapons and Meisters so aesthetically pleasing and then mess it all up with an esoteric number such as 342? His golden eyes rested on the design of the school. Just in time too. If he had to count those steps one more time he was sure to keel over and barf up blood.

The building brought pride to his chest. His father had made this institute to fight off evil and keep crime in its place. So it could be compared to cops... only cooler and more badass... and more competent. On the second thought, no, you couldn't compare it to the police- they were so much better that the incompetent idiots who run around with guns.

People were already pooling into the entrance- class would be starting soon. Comparing the DWMA to a school also did it no justice. Yes, they had tests on paper and teachers, but learning math and history wasn't on the agenda. Stuff as boring as that belonged in a normal school and they didn't have to wear uniforms. Uniforms that went by the code: "If it's not ugly, it's not school."

Well... there were some students who decided to wear uniforms of sorts... like Maka Albarn. She was a girl with sandy blond hair and an IQ that would put Tony Stark to shame. But brains and beauty were never besties and where she had brains her boobs lacked in. That was exactly where she got the nickname "Tiny Tits" from her best friend: Soul Eater Evans. The boy was the exact opposite of his girl friend and not more needed to be said.

Death the Kid liked them for their differences. So when he stepped up next to them he was greeted with smiles and he smiled in return- ignoring the asymmetrical nature of his companions. "Hey, Kid, was sup? Where are Liz and Patty? Don't you usually show up _late_ with them?" Soul asked looking bored, hands in his pockets and hair as unruly as it always is. He was wearing his usual favourite outfit- yellow jacket and red jeans. The girl had a book in her hand and was looking at the young reaper intently, also wanting an answer.

Kid looked at them both in turn as he answered in his bland tone. "Father has sent them as a pair on an extra-credit mission to help their focus along. Liz keeps freaking out at the mention of ghosts and Patty... well, Patty needs to focus more."

"Then why weren't you sent along as well, Kid, I mean- you do get distracted with symmetry every time you fight." Maka questioned in that tone of voice only she could pull off: it wasn't soft and placating nor was it mean and insulting. "I had wanted to know the same thing, but Dad only told me I needed to stay here and focus on my studies."

"Yeah, I never see you finishing with a test- so you must suck, I wonder if you can fail and redo your year-" Next thing the red-eyed boy knew he was staring up at the weird shaped clouds overhead and a throbbing pain in his head. Maka held her book in her hand and glared weapons down at him. "Soul, you idiot, Kid may be even smarter that I! He just can't finish because he is so obsessed with writing his name symmetrically..." And this was where Kid blocked them out again. He hated useless fighting.

So while they fought over nonsense he stepped pass them and went for the entrance. There was a reason why he was early today. He wanted to speak with his father. There was an unrest that settled over him early that morning; bright and early, while the sun was still crazy and full of energy. Something was wrong and he could feel it on the white stripes in his hair.

The halls were busy and full of eager first year's. The younger students were always eager to fight and ignored their studies. When kid had first joined the academy his interests were slightly different. While all the other students loved kicking butt and blowing stuff up he was locked away in his room with only books to rid him of his gloom. Since he could remember his father had preferred him as a studying type of child, always hating it when the young boy fought. So when a brave (or stupid) first year stopped him in the hall and told him what he thought of his hair and the stupid stripes in it, Kid knew exactly what to do.

"If I cared about someone's opinion I would go to CWMA: commenting weapons and Meister's academy, not DWMA, now get the hell away." The properly dressed boy stepped to the side, hands clasped behind his back. The other boy, nonplussed, interfered with the young reaper's road again. "I don't know who you think you are, but no one talks to me like that." A fist was thrown towards the pale boy's face. He ducked and dodged- rolling to a stop left of the attacker.

Enraged, another fatty fist came his way. Kid caught it. His hand stung slightly as the impact caused colour to come to his hand in heated fury. He didn't like fighting, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to protect himself. Being beaten by a first year would be a blow to his pride... and to the honour of his father... as would it be if he beat the crud out of an injudicious first year.

Kid stood up, the other male's fist still clenched in his hand, and leaned in close to the boy's ear. "Beating you to a pile of gloop is not what I want on the second day of school. I'm sure that you're doing this to impress your friends, so I won't humiliate you in front of them. When I let go, you can either drop the fight or drop your dignity levels to an even lower bar. You chose. Either way I win." His voice was low and sombre; ensuring the atmosphere of death was set.

Obviously Kid didn't know what the boy would decide, but he was ready for any of his ultimatum's outcome. Should the boy prove Kid right and be the fool he is by choosing to continue fighting the reaper would simply put the male on his ass and make him feel like an ass. If, in the unlikely event Kid was wrong and the boy would just walk away, that would be exactly what the young shinigami would do- walk away.

His hand loosened and the other pried his fist free. They stared each other in the eye. Black and gold glared. Tantalising quiet filled the halls as every pair of eyes was fixed on the teen and child. Every student, it seemed, was staring at the duo, waiting in climactic anxiousness for the other's response to whatever the black haired- teen had whispered... Fight... or fli- _tactical retreat_.

"Looks like your son can handle himself in a situation of fire." Smoke drifted up into the blue cloudy roof of the death room. The mirror had a perfect view of the two quarrelling students; small ripples disturbing the screen every now and again. The squelch of a squeaky wheel irritated the living dead out of Lord Death, but he ignored it in favour of Professor Stein's remark.

Setting up fights wasn't necessary, per se, but in this case it _was_ necessary.

"Yes, it is true that while I sent Patricia and Elizabeth out I needed to actually get Kid alone. I need to assess how he would handle a situation on his _own_. Violence isn't the way I want him to chose... you can quite say that this is actually Kid's test." Stein took another drag from the slim stick of nicotine. He looked at the mirror. "Mmmm, I suppose if you believe this is the best way to decide your child's future, then you as the Kid's father would make the best decision." The man said this in a way that sounded as if he knew this would end badly, but not admitting it straight off.

Subtly saying someone is stupid is Stein's skill. Among other things...

"I believe that the best way to ensure my son's future to not be an evil, murdering drug-dealer who is obsessed with fear, is to teach his right from wrong. Fighting purely to satisfy your own needs is the wrong way to do things. Here we fight to protect others, not our dignity."

Turning the screw on the side of his head Stein mulled what the shinigami had said over. Reasoning in this test was absolutely ludicrous. How was not beating up a first year going to keep Kid from becoming evil? How was any of this justified enough to set the fate of a fifteen year old boy in stone? How could one measly little fight make or break a boy's future?

"I could've simply conducted an experiment on Kid's brain to see if there are any deficiencies in his head. We both know that Asura was consumed with madness. At that moment I was talking about the mental illness, madness, not the drug Madness. Not to mention that I sense no evil wavelength in his soul. Kiddo is as innocent as..." Stein lifted the empty packet of cigarettes, and crushed the small stick under his shoe. Small strings of poisonous pleasure drifted lazily into the air. "ash on the ground, it cannot cause any harm- there is no fire, after all."

Behind the mask of happiness Lord Death grimaced and looked down. He wanted to believe that Kid was a good kid, he really did! But he knew what exactly masks can hide. Masks hide the scary things no one wants to see. They hide the truth and the ugliness behind a facade of good-naturalness and amiable smiles.

But what happens when the parade of masks ends? What would happen if the act would be dropped and burned and left to smoulder into ash? The smoke will give rise to the truth and the walls will be dropped- revealing the true nature of a person. And the elder reaper _feared _what his second son's true ability would be.

What is his son hiding behind his stoic mask of blandness? What was being hidden behind the obsession of symmetry? He knew that there was a reason why his son wore an excessive amount of black attire. Some might take it as a colour that shinigami's wear in general.

Which is not true.

The turning of Stein's screw pulled him from his reverie and set his eyes back on the mirror. He had to know which choice his son would make. He had to know what his son's true nature was. He had to analyse the situation carefully and deduct ,from what he could see, if his son was good or bad.

For only a father could tell if their children were meant for greatness. He had made that mistake once before and he wasn't about to make it again. With this child, he wouldn't make the same mistakes. He would make no mistakes. This son would be the perfect boy.

The result: not good. The pathetic loser had continued with his assault and in the end the boy landed in the dispensary with a bloodied nose, broken wrist end twisted ankles. He wasn't sure, but he suspected that the dude even had a few cracked ribs.

It would've gone differently were Patty and Liz present. Those two always seemed to mellow him out. This time he didn't have that comfort and look where he ended up. Death the Kid stood before his father with his head held high. There were many things in this world that Lord Death hated. Evil was one of them. And if he suspected his son of being evil... he would slightly be less liking of him, but he is Kid's father and no parent can ever hate their children... right?

"Father I assure you it was purely out of defence. I would never engage in a fight if only for fun." Somehow even he didn't believe that. Stein stared at the younger boy. Intently looking into his soul. The little red depressed blob was vibrating and shaking wildly.

The professor knew what this meant, but was impressed of the mask that Kid put up. Most people weren't even able to school their feelings on the outside, but when some were- like in Kid's case- their soul always gave them away. Stein was even certain that the Grim reaper could see this, but chose to ignore it.

All three occupants in the room knew what was coming.

"Kiddo, I am afraid I cannot allow you to continue your studies here at the DWMA. You are being pulled from the courses this afternoon."

The devastation that followed said words was catastrophic, like a rock being thrown into a puddle, causing waves of sorrow. Kid had never been dismissed from something before... and it felt terrible. He had just started making friends and now he wasn't allowed to even interact with them again, because of a single fight. Surely his father did this for his own good. So instead of having a tantrum he simply nodded silently and strode out of the Death room with practiced eloquence.

Never once before had anyone seen Death the kid as silent as now, he strode through the halls like a ghost. His steps were soft and his expression was stone. No one saw how his hands got whiter behind his back; no one saw how he clenched his jaw and no one saw how his eyes darkened when he stepped out onto the asymmetrical stairs outside. 342. Three hundred- and- fucking forty two.

The sun laughed at him, its mocking smile petulant and wild taunted him from high above. The grinning ball of gas was just as evil as the feelings that each human contained. There was evil and good in the world and they needed to contain equilibrium. One must never over power the other. If he became evil all of a sudden the balance may be tipped and the scales may shatter.

He was the only thing keeping the world in balance.

Night fell faster than he had wanted to. Going to Gallows Manor wasn't an option. Liz and Patty would be back by now and telling them about what had happened didn't appeal to him. Choosing instead to walk aimlessly in the streets, hands in his pockets, his golden orbs skimmed the skyscrapers and the bricked sidewalk.

At least the city was relatively clean. Litter and garbage was only seen here and there in the mount of a darkened alley, almost everyone avoided alleys. That was the best thing a person could have ever done. Kid ducked into it and sat beside a dumpster- pulling his knees up to his chest. He wasn't going t cry he told himself, he was merely taking a breather.

Shadows crawled up the murky walls and ate at the young Reaper's ankles. The moon was unusually silent tonight. Usually it was grinning and laughing, but now it seemed the glowing ball had settled into silence.

Being afraid was an understatement. Kid was terrified of what was going to happen next. He couldn't go back and face his friends with the truth of what had happened. He couldn't just be dishonest either- it went against his morals. Death the kid drew up his hands and stared at his hands. They were perfectly symmetrical. He had do keep the world symmetrical... this filthy alley wasn't symmetrical! It was absolutely disgusting!

Kid stood up and set to work. Symmetry always took his mind off things... even to the extremes. All he needed was to think of something else! He needed to think orderly he needed to think precise and he needed to think of something better than reality.

Laughter bubbled into his ears. And his efforts were sent to shambles when a hunched over figure looking like skin and bones kicked over the garbage bins he was aligning. Filth spilt onto the brick paved ground. The cans clanged off and sent Metallica and eeriness into the suddenly stale air. "Even shadows have secrets, so let's indulge in the madness."

"Who are you?" Kid's tone took on the defensive. He had never seen this person in the city before, and his figure didn't exactly look like something you could forget just by passing by. The man was wrapped up in several layers of clothing and a heavy scarf concealed any trademarks about his face... not that that was necessary- this man was a walking freak show on his own.

If he were able to see beyond that onion-like layer of clothes he would even bet that the man had pale skin. On second thought- no, (Kid took a step back) he could smell the man from here- he would not want to find out what was hidden beneath all that attire.

"I am the who when you ask 'who's there' and I am the fear in fearsome."

"Yeah, and you're the pang in poo and the piss in poor. Take a step back, your rotting up my air." Kid took out a neatly folded handkerchief and covered his mouth and nose. The folds were visible from where the material had been folded in an obvious triangular tip. The stranger invaded his space once more and pressed his face into his personal zone. Inspection was cut short when Kid struck the man in the nose.

A wince slipped passed the younger male's mask- wrong hand. His right hand was still sore from where he had socked that student earlier that day... he had forgotten about the pain in his moment of melodramatic misery. He wasn't about to sulk like a school girl who had lost a boyfriend. Many thing were known to him and is strengths and weaknesses were one of them- sulking wasn't one of them... he had merely experienced a moment of relapse into the realm of denial.

To get over this he needed the support of his friends. Kid's eyes widened. He had just hit a random hobo. Oh no. Invading his personal space wasn't a plausible reason to his a homeless hungry... a dagger-like blade appeared from nowhere... homicidal FREAK! Kid swrode that weapon came out of the dude's mouth!

Which is obviously a delusional assumption. But having a weapon pointed at him was not at all delusional and he wasn't about to get cut up by a hobo! "Liz, Patty, change into your... Damnit!" A silent slice sent blood seeping out of a scrape on the boy's cheek. Above his bruised knuckles and broken self-image, he was returning home with a cut as well.

"Consider yourself lucky kid; I didn't want to kill you just then." A weird look passed over his face and he froze. Kid froze as well. The both stood still as statues, exchanging looks. Death the kid had absolutely no idea why he was standing still. This man was obviously dangerous, and close combat with a melee weapon was dangerous... even for him. If that man was able to get past his stone walls of defence, then he had skills.

His milk had just been creamed.

"You look familiar. Like someone I hate and want to kill."

"It happens often. Hobo's usually want to kidnap Kid's and kill them in the middle of night under the maniacal moon. Or is that just me?" This seemed to amuse the stranger. "You should be filled with fear. You're about to be killed by someone you don't even know. I can hear your heart beating. Your skin is simply sweating fear and I love it." The golden cased weapon winked at Kid and sent him a gleaming smile.

"But I'm afraid I'm lost and I could use your help..." Something told the man, judging by the look in the child's face, that he wasn't about to receive any form of assistance from this child. Which annoyed him beyond belief. He had at least hoped for some fun before killing someone. And to be honest... he really was lost. First thing on his list was to cover himself up in as many sizes of clothes he could steal from murdered people as possible... _then _he would kill his father.

"What makes you think I'll help you?"

"Why do people always ask such predictable questions?"

"Because it's the most obvious answer any sane person would give a psychopathic murderer."

"Touché, but I do not consider myself a psychopathic-"

"You wouldn't if you were."

"-Murderer, I consider myself the person who rids the world of all the drips who suck and take all the fun away for party-seekers." Death The Kid looked at the man... he was completely and utterly mental... to even consider... "So... you're a hobo clown who murders people with a pointy stick and then... stinks up the place?" Kid stated a rhetorical question with a lace of sarcasm dripping delicious oozes of tantalising insults.

The man made an unimpressed noise and sheathed his weapon. The leather holster was agonisingly near his head- resting on his shoulder- concealed by one of the layers of material he wore.

"You're either brave or stupid to antagonise me in such a way. You are a very petulant child, what is your name?" Kid looked on in disinterest. Why answer this complete stranger? Sure he had disarmed himself and removed the threat, but that meant as much to him as a single accomplishment to overachievers.

To be truly assured of his safety he needed something more... something permanent.

"If I tell you my name, by means of society, we are no longer strangers. But being strangers or not has no importance to me if you are still inclined to bring harm upon me. There is certain etiquette one must follow when approaching a social matter, such as not murdering the person you know.

"Many things can be put in place to protect me from your blade, but only one method has any real significance." The young reaper paused for dramatic effect. The filth on the floor began to rot and drifted in a vile form to both their uncaring nostrils. The asymmetrical outlet of the alley bothered him distantly, but he ignored it for the best of his survival.

"We do the '_Invariabilem pignus', _that way I could be assured that no bodily harm befalls me." At those words, so solemnly spoken, the second man's eyes stretched like saucers. Now who was the one filled with fear?

"That is forbidden and you know it! It is dark magic banned from practice because of its unpredictability and un-ethicalness. I never thought that a 'perfect' boy such as you would even think of something like that. It enthrals me."

Those words were all that need be spoken to confirm the other's decision. "If you go back on this you know of the consequences and you accept them." It wasn't a question as much as a statement, the man smiled slyly nonetheless.

Both extended hands. The clasped and skin met skin. Pale was contrasted by nothing at all. This wasn't what Kid had expected. He had expected that the man be tan with calloused hands and dirtied fingers. Once again he was wrong. Searing pain burned like a chilly on the tongue against their gripped hands.

Mentally they both knew what was happening.

The heat increased only to be dulled by flaming cold at unpredictable intervals. There was no sound, there were no overdramatic flashes of light and there was certainly no overacted screams of agony. They accepted what happened and when they pulled away they knew that what they had decided was final.

The skull-shaped scar on the inside of their palms could attest to their youthful decision. By making this decision Kid had assured himself safety against any of the other man's actions. But by making this decision both their lives were put into immediate dramatic danger.

"Asura." – "Death the Kid."

Claiming control over the opposite's soul was a dangerous game that has no winners...

Death the Kid lay in his bed, contemplating the day's happenings. He got expelled from school by his father after dismissing a dead weight first-year meister. His weapon partners were out on extra credit courses and he made a deal with his soul as a betting piece.

He had covered up the skull-scar with a long-sleeved shirt. Since arriving home he had felt a buzz of power coursing through his veins, only to be written off as adrenaline from the excitement earlier that night. Kid had decided to tell Liz and Patty about his expulsion- they would find out anyway due to rumours- and he wanted to spare the theatricals if they were to find out from anyone but him.

Bed sheets were crumpled underneath his pallid frame and pillows as pale as pearls caressed black hair in a warm embrace. Were it not for the girl's late arrival back home later this evening he would have dosed off hours ago. The matter of being dismissed from the DWMA could have waited for the morning, but the burden of it compressed its titanium weight down onto his chest and restricted his breathing room.

Getting this off his chest was what was best for him. He heard the front door open. The comfortingly annoying trill of Patty's cheerful voice greeted his sensitive ears. Even from such a large distance between him and his front door he could still hear each word clearly spoken. Liz was scolding her younger sister for being so loud and told her that she would wake Kid. At that he looked over at his analog-clock.

It was already morning. He had no idea where they went, but if their journey took that long he supposed they were pretty far away. Usually travelling wasn't an issue and didn't take up much of his time- travelling per skateboard was pretty fast... not that, that would be needed anymore.

He got up. He was going to tell them and the telling time was nigh.

"Liz, Patty!" He called through his heavy wooden door. The noise downstairs silenced. He had to chuckle at that. They probably thought they had disturbed his slumber. How considerate of them. Before he could even reach his door it burst open and an overly friendly girl squealed and tackled him to the ground. A mop of blond hair was seen before all the wind was knocked clean out of him.

"I got you! You're defeated!" A slim tanned finger pointed at him. The youngest sister stood over him with a triumphant smile. Patty laughed. "I beat Kid! I beat Kid!" she sing-sung. Liz entered the room with a weary look in her eyes. "Patty get of him, don't you think you've tortured enough souls already?" Surprisingly the younger girl did as she was told. "You're right, sis, at least Kid didn't try to eat you like those creepy animal-thingies! But you showed them!"

Liz paled considerably at the mention of their mission. "Please don't talk about that, Patty." She drawled tiredly. Observing the looks of both the two girls' physique his resolved wavered. They looked so undeniably exhausted! Maybe holding it off until the morning would be best?

"Why are you still on the floor, Kid?" Two pairs of eyes met his; questioning eyes greeting troubled golden hues. "Kid, what's wrong?" Curse Liz for being so perceptive! She was always deductive, especially when it concerned those who she cared about. "Nothing that concerns you at the time being. Go to sleep, we can address the situation in the morning after you've rested. Let me assist you in bringing your bags to your bedrooms-"

He got up off the floor, only to be blocked from exiting. "What do you mean by 'situation'? What happened?" Kid cursed himself for his word choice. He should've revised his noun usage to something less drastic sounding. But that was exactly what it was- drastic! This _couldn't_ wait 'til the morning. Despite what he wanted, despite what they would think, he had to do it. He had to come clean.

"Liz, Patty," He addressed them both seriously. Liz despised this look. She knew it was much worse than his usual barrage of lectures about the tips of triangulated toilet paper or symmetrical eyebrows when he became serious like this. Her meister wasn't supposed to be as serious as this... it was unnatural.

, "Because of my reckless behaviour at school today, I was expelled from the DWMA."

**Rules of Invariabilem pignus:**

_1) The one who breaks the bond of soul by killing and/or inflicting physical pain upon the counterpart will meet the fate of Death._

_2) A bond can only be broken when one of the contributing parties, if not both, die of natural causes. _

_3) '_Invariabilem pignus'_ is a bonding of souls by giving rights of your existence to the opposite contributing party. Your soul is no longer yours and henceforth belongs to the second bonder._

_4) The received scar is the mark of the bond. If any harm is to come to the scar by breaking or cutting of the flesh the counterpart will die and by constitution of the rules so will the person bearing the broken scar. _

_5) A bond could last for eternity or for seconds. It depends on if you value your life as much as your counterpart's. _

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	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Chains rattled and cards were shuffled. The room was dark. It was damp and filled with people. Smoke drifted up and rested against the roof like a depressed cloud with lung cancer. Laughter and speaking accumulated most of the silence.

All of their clothes were hanging from them and most didn't even bother to hide their weapons. Scars were worn like trophies and tattoos were almost obligatory. Piercings were optional, as well as bathing and proper hygiene... it seemed.

How a person could survive this stench no one knew. Somehow these groups of people had made it here is one piece; which was a new record because the last gathering they had someone was stabbed to death and cut up in small pieces. No one even knew- and it would have stayed that way had their leader not received the chopped up corpse a week later _'A tribute to my master.'_ It had read on the decapitated head of the victim.

No, they hadn't used a sharpie- the words were carved into the flesh with a knife.

Little had to be said, but Asura was pleased to know that his followers weren't a bunch of thumb sucking babies... So tonight was definitely an evening to celebrate... under the circumstances. No one was missing and no one had entered with a bloodied shirt yet so everyone took that as a good sign.

The hollows in the walls provided a perfect place to lie down after you've had a generous sniff of Madness; and high up in the ceiling a crimson chandelier lit the commotion perfectly and dunked the men and women in a perfect ray of red.

Music was playing, but hardly anyone paid attention to it. They were either too drunk or too high to notice. This was Asura's kingdom. He didn't give a damn about these imbeciles, but they were needed- and he knew it. A leader is only as good as his followers... even if they were a bunch of foolish baboons that had the IQ of a piece of bark.

He was sitting at the high stakes table playing poker with his most trusted of followers. He was winning, of course, who wouldn't if they had an ace up their sleeves? Asura was pretty sure they knew he was cheating, but chose to say nothing. Saying nothing was a smart choice- he would rip out their tongues and feed it to his dogs if they dare mention anything.

Oh how he loved his dogs. They were black, vicious and filled with black blood. Not to mention the little animals from Hell had red eyes (just like their master) along with rows of sharp teeth: a spitting image of their only reason for survival (Asura). Said animals were currently padding amongst the vile people who worked for him, snapping and baring, white teeth bathed in slobber to keep them in line and to keep a healthy dose of fear high enough for their master to enjoy.

Asura blinked and wove his eyes through the crowd of people. He put his cards down face-up on the table. A Royal flush. Every other player said nothing, but their body languages suggested that they were damn unhappy- their facial expressions revealed nothing.

"I win again, it seems."

He tapped his fingers upon the crisp cards, his index finger tapping the king repeatedly. Open fingered gloves that were as black as his hounds covered his hands. This was _his_ kingdom. More poker chips were added to his rapidly growing pile.

"It get's tedious to win all the time. I want to see some **action**." He spoke to no one in particular. They hated when he did that. Asura was now looking at his pets- one of which was frightening the soul of a random loser.

"Bring me that one." They all looked in the direction of his eyes. The young man was sitting atop a table legs pulled to his chest and the most freighted expression anyone had ever seen adorned his face.

"Nyctophobia, bring him over!" The dog growled even louder. The young man flinched. "Shit!"Asura grinned and noticed the signs; shaking, sweating, swearing and shitting up his pants because of fear. Yup- this man has had a lovely dose of their most infamous drug: Madness.

All the dogs in the area showed up and circled the table- the music changed into a more foreshadowing nature- sensing the aura change; everyone in the room grew quiet and stared at what was happening. The animals growl and snap. The space on the table grew smaller for the man to cower on.

The leader of the beasts jumped up and bit the man, sinking its teeth into his skinny leg. They young brunette yelled. Everyone cringed at the sound. Asura's smile merely grew. Nyctophobia draged him over and dumped the man at her master's feet. Her master looked pleased, she was certain that she would receive a treat tonight so she went her merry way unobtrusively.

"Chain him." Asura commanded. The man's eyes widened. A woman dressed in a black dress that looked like something a widow would wear stepped up, swaying her hips. The man grinned and handed her the chains. The victim cowered in fear: what he saw was completely different...

He grabbed at his brown hair and buried his face into the floor- shying away from the scary people who looked like demons. Gerecho ran his hand through his hair when the woman took the chains from him. His piercings winked at her in a bloody bathed seduction. She didn't fall for his bullshit disguised with grins.

"Arachnophobia, make sure his wrists _bleed_." Asura commanded, interest growing like a weed. Shackles clanked, tightening to the verge of breaking the man's bony wrists. He screamed- they all knew it wasn't from the pain...

Madness gives you power and makes you feel free from all your troubles, but when you fall and the effects take place of the pleasure you're in a world of Hell.

Madness was one of the worst drugs ever to be sold on the streets, not only because it's super addictive, but also because it can cause chaos of the epic kind. Asura stood up and waved his lackeys away. He strode over to the man and ripped his head up- gloved fingers gripping his hair painfully.

What the man saw sent him into hysterics. He squirmed and screamed; trying desperately to get away from his vision... the chains held him in place along with the vice grip the gang leader had on his head. "Now, now- it's not that bad, I'm simply going to end you- nothing to be worried about."

Those words silenced the man.

Asura took his knife and tortured the man until he begged for death. Blood dripped down his arm and formed a pool on the concrete. Those who watched wore no expression. They only watched. They stared as the man was drained of blood. They looked as their leader cut flesh from bone and fed it to his 'pets'.

The man was torn and broken like a rag doll that was played with too much. He was on the brink of death, yet Asura still wouldn't allow him any salvation. Asura grinned. "On second thought, I won't kill you, but rather prolong your suffering..."

The leader of the gang looked at Gericho. "Take him down to the prison and lock him up. I want to put him in the games..." At those words the whole hall burst into cheers and shouts of excitement. The silence was broken easily. The games were their favourite form of entertainment...

And when they had enough _volunteers_ to participate there would be nothing _but_ entertainment... "It will be my pleasure." The blond man freed the bloodied body and forcefully, painfully, dragged him out the doors and down the forbidden hall...

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Gun shots fired throughout the house and yelling was imminent. Loud bangs and thumps as object hit the ground, people yelling, consumed all thought. The curtains were drawn and the room was filled with black. Lights flickered and lit the room now and then.

Then abruptly stopped.

Kid threw the remote to the table and stared at the lifeless screen. The trash people would air on television these days was laughable! Who would want to watch a reality show about a fat girl wearing farmer clothes who runs around eating stuff, or in this case a show about someone shooting the living shit out of some random stranger?

Sure he shot strangers, but only because those strangers were already dead! Nobody would care if he killed a couple of zombies if they tried to attack him... or were those collage students... Who knows- they both look and act the same...No Wonder His Father Expelled Him!

Kid sighed and rubbed his face. Watching this was only upsetting him. He needed something more stimulating than endless hours of nonsense. Yet he didn't know what to do- symmetry was always an outlet for him since he obsessed over it, but seeing as he had already checked the paintings, the toilet paper and the candles... and done it again... the thing he would do next was go to school...

From which he was currently expelled... because he was useless trash and a cow because he beat up a first year simply to protect his pride. UUURG! No matter what he does it always revolves back to the subject of him being kicked out of the institute his father constructed.

Then there was that one other matter...

Which he dare not even think about. Liz and Patty were already upset as it is. If they found out about what he had done he was sure he would get more that supportive hugs and a slap upside the head.

He can't help but think that the scar on his hand was burning. It felt dirty and vile against his skin and he didn't even know why he had accepted the deal! Maybe it was because he was upset and wanted to do what was wrong in order to anger his father further... or was it because he felt a pulling at his conscience that told him that this man was dangerous and the only way to survive was to seal his safety?

Whatever the reason he was now stuck with this shred of sin in the soul of his hand. He dreaded when the girls would come home. They had looked extremely unhappy. He never wanted to see that look on their faces- never. One of the things he absolutely despised in the world (besides Asymmetry) was upsetting the ones that love him.

School would almost come out and he still hadn't done anything productive today. And by productive he meant getting off his lazy ass and actually doing something. There was one thing that he didn't want to do and that was becoming a burden... but he had absolutely no idea what to do! Usually he would go out and make the world a better place, but without his favourite friends what was the point?

Sighing he stood up and went over to the door, fingers absently tracing the pattern in his hand. Kid opened the door. Sunbeams glared at him and blinded him temporarily.

Minutes passed. No one came walking up the road. Kid glanced over at the clock. It was already three thirty. Liz and Patty should already have been home by now- the walk from school doesn't take that long. They told him that they would have a serious chat once they came back from school. They were obviously too tired to handle it so late at night... right?

Moments passed and there was no one still. Were they so disappointed in him that they simply decided to leave him to wallow in his sorrow and die from a futureless tomorrow? No... that can't be true- they were good people. They wouldn't do that to him! They wouldn't abandon him! More time passed. The street was as empty as aa anorexic person's stomach.

The clock showed a mocking fifteen past four. Which, logically, meant that he had been ditched. Serves him right. Kid frowned and became stoic. He was dead on the inside. Everyone disowns him. No one sees him as the strong willed person who would do anything to guard the good.

All the community sees now is a useless cow- a person who can't even do the simplest of things! Well if that was how people saw him-

The door slammed shut and Death the Kid's futures darkened. He'll show them what it is to be truly bad. Judging him would be the worst mistake they had ever made. And that was what he would prove to them! His mirror called for him and a little makeover was in order... not to mention he had to contact a certain friend he had acquainted earlier.

He can show them bad!

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"Yeah, guys, he looks terrible- usually first thing in the morning he would check if everything in the mansion is symmetrical, but today all he did was plop down in front of the TV. and flip through channels. To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if he is still at it."

Liz walked, concerned frown lingering on her face. Patty walked at the back looking up at the sky- not seeming to be bothered by anything. Soul frowned. "That's not cool! How can Lord Death do this to him! We spoke to him that morning and he seemed normal... except for the fact that he wanted to talk to his dad about something..."

"I wonder what he wanted to say, knowing Kid it would probably be important, he doesn't like to disturb Lord Death, even if he isn't busy." The group of friends settled into comfortable silence. All expression that was worn mutually was concern and confusion. "It took longer than usual to get you all together, but if it weren't for Blackstar I'm sure we would've been earlier."

They looked at the boy. He was busy eating some sort of sandwich. "Honestly, Blackstar, you should leave the witch eating to Tshubaki." The blue haired boy merely shrugged, swallowing, "Yeah, but I the great _Blackstar_ am great enough to do more than one thing!"

They all rolled they eyes. Liz stopped- frozen. All eyes fixed on her then glanced in the direction of her eyes. They were fixed on Gallows Manor. Nothing looked off. Nothing except for the door being wide open... okay... something was wrong. Why would the door be open? Kid was very specific about keeping the door closed or robbers could get in and mess up his symmetry.

"Something's wrong!" They all ran out of pure curiosity to the open threshold, finding the home as baron as the Arctic Circle. "Kid? We're home!" When no answer met them Liz panicked and Patty shut up. "Would you guys just chill? He's probably getting a few Z's. You should know how exhausting emotions can be... you are women after all." This earned soul another book to the head.

"Another comment like that and you'll get more than just a Maka-Chop!" Soul rubbed his sore head gingerly and followed the group inside- closing the door behind them. The eldest Thompson sister directed her buddies to the kitchen and discreetly told her sister to go check if Kid was asleep upstairs.

With an unnecessary salute the girl marched past the portraits and paintings and went up the staircase to where sleeping beauty was probably dead by now.

Patty peeked past the pinewood door and spotted a bulk on the bed. The curtains were drawn and a _single_ candle was lit. Patty stomped inside and plopped unceremoniously onto the bed. "I know why you're upset Kid, but you can get over it! You're not weak, if you were weak you would've been evil and you're not evil- evil is bad and bad isn't you." Patty patted the sheets roughly.

"We're all here so you should come downstairs! Big sister was really upset when she saw the door open! She probably thought that someone killed you!" At that she laughed like it was the funniest thing in the entire universe to think of him as being dead. When an answer didn't come Patty frowned and pulled her lips to the side. "Fine, ignore me! I'll get you back later, but you really need to come down- I don't think big sis would like it if you cry and no one saw it."

Her words came out wrong but she was sure that Kid was smart enough to figure out there was no harm in it. Everyone cares for him and his well-being and no one wanted him to be unhappy. That was why they were all gathering- to get a solution to the problem and solve the little dilemma they had.

"I'll come back later then- just get up and come down- everyone wants to see you."

Patty flew up like a butterfly and skipped out of the room. Her child-like nature was comforting. In certain situations Kid was sure her words would have helped, but this was different. He was different and he no longer needed friends. They made him weak- and to survive in his line of work he had to be strong. What was for sure was that he would be the big boss in no time by beating the new one.

That would be his plan from the beginning and he would see it thorough until the end.

So when the door closed he threw open the covers and jumped out of the bed- his booted feet sinking into the lush carpet. The madness had taken over and he was thrilled to let it. Today would be the turning point of his entire life. This was the day he would become his own person and would do whatever he wanted.

The Hell with the consequences. Today he would become what his father had been fighting since the day he was born- criminals. And thanks to his father he was abandoning his friends and going to make new ones. Glory, fame and power are all that existed in Kid's future now. For when there is no light in the path ahead there is only darkness and shadows... and like someone had told him earlier- even shadows have secrets so let's indulge in the madness.

One big secret which dwells around shadows is definitely madness. So let's indulge in it!

But one thing need be done before he can go and meet up with his 'friend'... he needs to get a tattoo- and there was a certain one that he had wanted for a while, but could never get. His father was very... strict. One thing less that he had to worry about - his father's approval. As previously established- he was his own man now.

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'_PoefPastei' _tattoo parlour gives tattoos to people and don't really give a damn about anything, but the money. So when they saw the young shinigami come in they were more than happy to assist the rich son of Lord Death. But the request that he had made sent them frowning and shying.

A tattoo such as that was something that was uncommon. It wasn't everyday that someone asked for stripes being tattooed over your mouth to give it the look of a skull... usually they got demands of a more vulgar kind...

The boy offered to pay them double if they did a good job.

Nothing more needed saying.

It would just be a while until Kid could eat normally again- it hurt like crazy. But what he got out of it was much better. He got a rite of passage into the most prestigious gang in Death City- and protection against the most notorious gang leader to ever set foot on earth.

Asura- Google had more than enough info on him. Yet there were some pieces of information that was left out, but that would be easy to acquire once he got in the leader's good graces- after all- it's not every day you see a son killing his own father.

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"Welcome to your new home, Kid. I am pleased to inform you that you are not to be touched by anyone under the punishment of death. There is one thing I need to tell you, I am the leader of this place and will not hesitate to kill you- even if that means I die in the process. Have a nice stay."

That was as creepy as when the Joker is friendly. Not to mention just as dangerous.

Kid smiled to himself. The place smelled. It was asymmetrical and as awful as a mean parent. Yet it was still better than being in the company of his father. Anything was better than being with his father in the same room. Getting a weapon was better than having an actual person turning into a weapon.

Asura told him it was more exiting to actually load the Chrome handgun than just having weapons that don't have to be reloaded at all. He said that it gave you a sense of danger as the enemies came closer. Fear was what he liked so why wouldn't someone like that say such a thing?

That night when the clock stoke twelve and the moon was at its maddest one of Asura's men came barging into his room and demanded he get up. Dazed and disoriented Kid had pulled on his equipment and heavy black boots- suited for whatever it was what they were going to do. Something akin a jacket hit him in the face and he glared angrily at the culprit.

"What the fuck did you do that for, Jackass?!" Kid was almost tempted to swipe his gun and empty a few caps into that dude's brain. The man took a step forward. "What did you call me, Shorty?" Lightning crackled between their glares and Kid's finger's twitched. His hand hovered over his weapon at his side.

The sleek black holster was practically demanding he open it and fire. He restrained himself. No sense in killing an idiot on his first day. Sure doing that would give him a fear factor, but then everyone would think he was a hot shot and give him a bad time.

Problems were not something he would appreciate- they were something he would like to cause. "What are we doing, why is it necessary to practically get up in the middle of night? And why give me this?" Kid lifted the jacket and inspected it with sunshine eyes.

It was a Mamba colour with hues of white lining the edges and the collar. It looked like something someone would wear to keep warm, but didn't lack style at all. An insignia was stitched into the breast pocket. It looked like a fancy letter M inside a circle... must be the gang's symbol.

"_That's _so no one of our gang shoots you... by accident... and to keep your weapons hidden until the time is right. We're going out- no questions asked. Boss demands it-so shut up and do as he says!" The man pushed Kid on his back, causing him to almost trip and fall onto the ground.

Kid said nothing, only glared. He didn't like being pushed around. Not at all. The man laughed at him. Kid took a deep calming breath and pulled the jacked on- he was right, it does hide all the illegal weapons.

He automatically took a liking to the piece of attire. It was light, yet warm and fit him like a glove- yet he had enough space to manoeuvre in it. Quite effective. Outside it was the darkest black he had ever seen. It was cool, yet not brisk. And there were a total of five people outside- all geared up.

They looked at Kid. He was the youngest and least experienced of them all. "I 'on't know why Boss dumped 'im with 'o team! He's gonna slow 's down! The little freak don't even look tha part 'o a figh'er." Speech therapy was what that man needed, Kid couldn't even understand half of what he said... yet the others found no trouble in understanding him and glared at him. Yes, they had a similar agreement in whatever the man had said.

"Don't know, he just demanded we take care of the runt, he's your responsibility, Shitehawk, make sure he doesn't die. With the way the boss went on about not letting him die he'll kill us if the freak dies... accidentally."

The horribly linguistic man grumbled and glared at the boy. "U fuk up and U be dead b'for I can say- told U so!"

Death the Kid wasn't afraid, he wasn't afraid when he entered the building and he wasn't afraid when every person in it looked at him like hungry monsters. Nor was he scared when one of them pulled a weapon on him. He wasn't horrified when Asura's dogs bit every single piece of meat out of another victim's flesh and nor was he afraid when Asura laughed manically.

Now he was afraid. This man had a deadly look in his eyes that told of many stories and pasts that would put the devil into a corner and cry. Kid nodded enthusiastically in attempt not to anger the man. Pleased was a great word to describe the smile on the man's face.

"A' least I 'on't 'ave pro'lems wit ya'."

Kid smiled- a genuine smile that only had a smidge of madness to it. There was one person who would kill him, but wouldn't do so immediately like the others. Oh joy. "Our objective is simple and easy. We get the supplies on this list. We get every one of them before 4 in the morning." The woman who was apparently the leader glared at him then she continued.

"I don't go along on the run's I only give the orders. You four always handle it on your own- I never get into the line of fire. Here's your ear piece- If you break it you fix it!" She handed him a small earpiece. He put it in. "Don't die!" Kid nodded. And the four were off.

They were four blocks away when the woman's voice spoke to them. "First item on the list- food supplies." Shitehawk grumbled. "No' this 'gain! Ya' kno' wha' happ'ned las' time we got'a stuff!"

"If I cared about every microwavable Burrito that exploded and gave you a burn scar then the missions would never even get done. Now stop complaining loser baby and do what you have to!" After that the noise cut off and the dark was their only companion.

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"Duck!" Another explosion shook the earth and the windows high above vibrated. Rubble was scattered across the tar road and they were just as scattered. The grenade landed opposite their attackers' car-shield and blew it sky high.

Shitehawk gave a shout of triumph. "Blew 'em fuckers in'o next week!" Kid loaded another clip- back pressed against the cool metal of a stranger's Mercedes. Asura was right; it was more fun to reload stuff. Besides, blowing the brains out of a police officer was much more fun than simply subduing your enemies.

"It's almost 4! If we don't get back soon the light would be good enough to see our faces!" Kid called to another car where he knew the others were taking cover. Once the clip was snapped into position he regained his stance and started shooting. The accuracy of his bullets astounded the others. No newbie had ever been such good marksmen.

Another bullet landed its path between a dude's eyes. "Why did the last bloody item on the list have to be the frigin' Gun store! No one's going to run out of ammo soon!"

"Tha's why we worr'ey 'bout who runs out 'O bo'ie's first!" metal crashed into the side of the car and sent the boy's ears ringing. "What are 'Bo'ie's' ?! Do you mean bodies? You need to take speech lessons!" Over the noise of gun fire and shouts of pain Kid could make out the piercingly annoying laughter of the slender man.

Shitehawk was certainly crazy, only a person who _was_ could be able to laugh through this. Kid took a liking to this man. Another shot fired. Kid wondered why the bullet was getting bigger- and then it hit him! He fell back- his shoulders hitting the ground. Shocked he stared wide eyed at his grazed side. Blood leaked lethargically out of the small rip in his jacked and slowly made the attire filthy.

Kid's lips dragged up and resembled something like a dog lifting its hackles. His eyes took on a deranged gleam. One of the police fuckers SHOT him! Hell no! That moment could not be described in any number of words. The lines over Kid's mouth only looked more awe inducing as he fired raping shots and killed the last remaining spews of officers.

The noise died down as the dead bodies hit the floor. The flashing police lights were eerie in the morning dark. Gloom settled onto the group. Shitehawk smiled appraisingly. Maybe training this dude wouldn't be as hard as he had first perceived.

More sirens danced in the distance. "Let's get moving! I'm not in the mood to waste more ammo!" The woman yelled. They grabbed the duffle bags filled with the stuff they've gather during the past hour, most of it being food and guns- others being chemical components and electrical devices...

With an agreeable atmosphere the four of them ran away- leaving a bloodied pavement and broken tar street behind. The maid would just take care of that- no worries. Not at all.

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After dumping all the stuff they had gathered on the giant pile of stuff that _everybody_ had to gather Kid went to his room. It can't be called a room. It looked more like something you would give a prisoner. It tasted like blood and smelled like every body fluid imaginable to man.

The walls were stony and coal like. Unlike kid's taste in both white and black, purely black was really starting to annoy him. He wanted a better colour scheme. He wanted something with more pop and flavour. He wanted red to coat his walls so that he would be able to do more than just _taste_ blood.

He wanted to feel it and live it. And tonight had proved that he LOVED it! He loved the feel of the warm liquid dripping out of his side and he absolutely adored the feeling of it hardening against his skin. Tonight was undeniably entertaining and the adrenaline he had received helped him along even more.

It would even be possible to say that Kid would go on these boring errand runs simply for the thrill of a fight. Forget symmetry... blood was his new obsession.

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"Lord Death?" The Reaper smelled him before he saw him. "Hello Stein! Wasuup, Wasuup?" He turned around, only to be met with the entire faculty of the school. His mask frowned. "Good... morning everybody- is there something the matter?"

"There is, actually," Miss Marie started timidly. "We were all concerned. Today we didn't see Kid in class; we are used to him showing up late- which we completely understand why he is late!" She commented while laughing oddly. "But it wasn't just that." Cut in Sig, seeing as the teacher was taking too long to get to the point. "Kid's friends and weapon partners were also acting off,'

"It cut into my training time! I can't work with depressed kids! So what happened! Is something wrong with that Kid of yours? Should we be worried?" Professor Stein looked at the Grim Reaper pointedly. It was as he predicted. Bad thing were going to happen.

"Nothing to be concerned about. Just some minor difficulties, nothing I can't handle, Kid is a good kid after all."

The mirror to the Death room chose that moment to flash to life. A uniformed soldier stood startled and stared bewildered at the crowded room. "What is it?" Asked the Shinigami. "Sir we have a prisoner escape!" The man informed. His face was pale and it seemed hard for him to breathe.

"Then why haven't you apprehended the criminal yet?" Deeply confused Lord Death stared at the screen frowning. "It's more serious than that sir, when we did a prisoner attendance about half an hour ago there was one cell entirely empty."

"That still doesn't answer my question." Stein blew another cloud of smoke. Everyone in the room stared in anticipation as the soldier regained his breath. "We couldn't send soldiers out to find the prisoner, because it seems the prisoner had escaped earlier the previous day... and most of our troops have been sent out to a disturbance down town.'

"None of them have returned yet and more officers were sent a while ago, but sir... the prisoner who had escaped..." The man seemed almost scared to admit the name of the prisoner. Tension could not even be cut with a meat cleaver at this moment- that's how thick it wallowed in the air.

"I think what the man is trying to say is that the man who escaped from the prison is the same man who caused all that trouble down town. To be honest I could feel the trembling from here. My hypothesis is that the escapee had made use of explosive weapons. Where the person had found them is beyond me, but-" Stein was interrupted by the man giving a bitter laugh. They all looked at him.

He shook his head ruefully. "That news would have been better to hear, professor. Not to mention that it would be much easier to explain..."

Lord Death tipped his head to the side in a display of confusion. It seemed like the man was about to faint. "The man who had escaped the prison is Asura."

¤CM¤


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Kid stood on the hill looking at the empty rail way. The sun was hidden with heavy clouds and spilled a chalk colour onto the bottle green grass. Off in the distance a train's steam billowed into the air and the whistle blew, its wheels started moving slowly. It seemed like the train was stuck in a pit of particularly sticky tar, but after a moment if moved faster until eventually it rolled past him.

He sighed. This morning was exiting, but he wanted _**more**_. Adrenaline wasn't the only thing that would keep him going. He needed revenge and his father would be the one to suffer. It was that old lunatic's fault that he was now one of the members of a gang that sells illegal supplements. He would never use drugs and that he promised to himself. Being addicted to things wasn't what he wanted.

Sitting down he watched as the train grew smaller and smaller as it streamed off into the distance. He could still faintly pick up the steamy whispers of its warmed engine. His hands dug into the dirt and picked the grass free from their soiled confines. Simply murdering his father would be harder than ever if he didn't have any experience.

Someone had to help him train to get better. He had to be strong enough to defeat his father and get his revenge. His father _ruined_ his life, so in return he will destroy his. What better way to get the most effective training than to work his way up the ranks and climb the ladder?

Yes! That was an excellent plan! He would fight every single person in the gang until he was strong enough. Then he would kick Asura's ass and become the leader. Kid saw absolutely no flaw in that plan. Only question is... who would be the best person to start with? Everybody was stronger than him and nobody seemed to want to attack him with the intent to kill.

If one does not train with the intent to kill what would be the point?! He needed someone who doesn't give a damn and would gladly like to kill him despite the risks... like anyone ever would. That was yet another down side to the damn scar. Kid sighed once more and fell back; his head landing softly into the grass. One solid grey wall of cloud met him.

He wouldn't even be able to calm himself down by staring at the clouds! Everything was so frustrating! Why couldn't he just relax and let all his stress flow like any other normal person? Why did he have to be born with a man like _that_ for a father? The man acted like he didn't even want him and that his birth was a mistake... an accident.

It probably was- he was born in the worst of times too. He could remember being told stories of how the entire town was in flames and the only building that still stood was Gallows Manor. It was like that building had immune to the wrath of whoever had destroyed the city. Not a single person would ever want to tell him who destroyed the town he grew up in. He suspected that it had something to do with who his father was that everyone was so tight-lipped.

Once again his father ruined his life. There were so many ways that his father had ruined his life that he couldn't even name them all. Well he had time- so maybe he should make a list. "I'll start with #1: Kept secrets from me, intentionally and indirectly."

It was when the first drop of rain landed between his eyes and the damned dreary clouds finally cried their H2O that Kid realized how long he had been sitting here. He got up- none caring of the grass that stuck to him- and made his way back to the warehouse not too far from here.

He had enough time to spare if he wanted to get a _warm_ shower- it's not like any of them would want to clean themselves all of a sudden- so he didn't have to worry about getting the cold end of the stick. The blood that was still caked against his side irritated him. Going back to the mansion and taking a shower was out of option as well. Despite his unwillingness to see his so called friends that wasn't the only reason he didn't want to go back.

Gallows Manor was his father's house after all.

And seeing his father was the last thing on his mind. At the present moment he was so cross with his father- he was cross with his father when he expelled him. The stomach dropping feeling a person gets can never be forgotten and when he had spoken those words to him it was the most dreadful thing he had ever felt.

He was enraged. He was so darn angry that he couldn't even speak, so the only thing left to do was to leave. He left that room knowing that he would never return. But he didn't leave the school knowing that he would one day be plotting to destroy it and its principle. Yes- annihilating the DWMA was second on his revenge list- right next to. Killing. His. _Father_.

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The doors slammed open and all heads snapped up, Kid stared at the illuminated figure lurking in the door way. And looked back down. He sat at a table- staring at the various different stains and listening to the pointless chatter of others. Death the Kid was quite enjoying himself until the figure barged into the room and addressed everyone present.

"I gots a special message fo' all 'O ya!" Kid recognised his voice and looked up. All movement ceased and the anthill of the assembly hall grew deathly silent. Shitehawk must have a lot of respect if even the scum of this place were to listen to him.

"Someone's gone and told tha ass up on a hill wha' hap'ned ea'lier dis mo'ning. Now we ain't only got tha po-po on 'O asses, we also got tha DWMA to shoot up! So tha pe'son who kills tha most meisters and captu'es them weapons gets a special rewa'd from da Boss!"

Almost everyone in the whole room was gone in less than five minutes- locked and loaded. Kid stared at the mostly empty hall in bewilderment. All people flooded out the double doors- rusing past Shitehawk like he was a rock and they were water flowing by him on either sides but never touching him or even looking him in the eyes.

Whatever a reward from the boss looks like it must be pretty good if they were all going Meister hunting like it was hunting season for the last time on earth. Even Kid was psyched to go and lay a bullet or three thousand between a student's eyes... but some of them were his friends and he didn't want them getting hurt. So partaking in this activity was not on his agenda.

Shitehawk walked up to him. Kid tried not to give him a scowl- he succeeded, because it didn't seem like the man wanted to kill him straight away. "I saw ya' up on tha' hill. Wha' were ya' doin' up the'e ?"

Kid regarded him with a blank look. Could the truth suffice as useful information to get him the help he wanted? It was worth a try. "I was contemplating the possibilities of you training me to become a better fighter." Half a truth is not considered truthful at all, but it wasn't a complete lie.

That caused the man to laugh, a deep rumble that grew from his chest and burst outward. "Ya' wan' me ta' teach ya' how 'o kick someone's ass?" he did not reply, only waited until the man stopped laughing. For such an intimidating person he sure does laugh a lot.

"No can do twiddle stick. I ain't tha pe'son ya should sta't wit', I gonna break ya in half if ya do wan' trainin' from me!" Seriousness laced every word he spoke and Kid had no doubt that they were exactly that. "Who should I train with then?" Shitehawk threw his thumb at a person who sat at a table in the corner, shuffling cards all by his lonesome.

"Tha' aught ta' fit ya' training regimen!" Death the Kid stared. Why didn't he leave with the other lackeys to go Meister hunting as well? Was he too good for that type of thing or was he just scared he'll chip a nail? A girl was what he was!

"Who are you?" Kid asked when he stepped up to the person's table. The shuffling hands stopped mid-shuffle. Hands that looked soft and way too delicate for that of a man. "When you talk to me you will speak with respect or I will rip your tongue out- you got that?" Forget man- a woman was what _she_ was!

A hood covered her face, but braided golden hair flowed down her sides and polished perfection nails clacked onto the table. The cards were abandoned. "What do you want, Kid?" Apparently everyone knew his name, that or they just wanted to let him know that they were old and he was considered a child.

"I want you to help me. I have a small issue and I-"

"No matter what you've heard I am not a paedophile. Take your teenage hormone problems elsewhere, I'm a very busy woman and have no time to indulge you in your perverted fantasies." Death the Kid blushed. Did she just suggest that he had... problems downtown? Why would anyone think of him in such a way?

"No! I mean I want you to train me and teach me how to be a better fighter, because Shitehawk said-"

"So it was Shitehawk who spread all those rumours of me invading a young girl's body?! I'll kill him!" The cards landed on the table with a clenched fist atop it. The bang echoed off the stone walls and drifted into the corridors beyond the lower levels. It may look like a warehouse on the outside, but underneath the first floor of crated expanse was a stretch of tunnels and mazes and rooms and... other stuff.

Certainly one of those rooms was built to be resistant to the force of this woman's fist. She looked like she could throw a punch and kill a man with one hit. The table shook under the force of her hand and looked ready to break. "I don't know about that, but- listen... all I want to know is if you would help me learn to be a better fighter?"

"Never."

"Look at it this way. I'm on Shitehawk's team. If you train me you get to beat me up until I'm a better fighter. So you would be inadvertently affecting the efficiency of Shitehawk's task team if you were to assist me." This lead to the woman thinking for a while. She lifted her head and a shockingly young face with snake-golden eyes met his.

Kid shrunk back some. She looked scary and creepy. Her mouth looked like something that can spit a few venomous words and poison your soul with their hurtful bite. "You got yourself a deal. Meet with me in the training room in an hour. I need to have a little talk with a certain someone."

Kid stepped back as she pushed her chair out and slunk like a snake out of the stone room. And he wondered if he had made another mistake in making a deal with a creepy person who was covered in shadows. Too late now to worry much about it.

Death the Kid was the only remaining person in the cold, cold room. Most people were out killing for shits and giggles... actually they were killing for a prize- one which he knew nothing of- others were simply idling around and looking for excitement. He would be starting training with a very, VERY intimidating person in less than an hour.

The question now was... what would he do to fill the time? Kid leaned onto the table with his elbows. The wooden structure wobbled and buckled under his weight. Then broke. Kid toppled onto the ground and landed between wood and splinters. Great, beaten by a piece of furniture.

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Kid got his ass kicked pretty well. The saying 'you hit like a girl' would forevermore be written as a compliment and not an insult. His ears still rung from when she had put him flat on his behind and hit him in the head. A bump was sure to form sooner or later.

Bruises covered his pale skin and nothing of his usual milky complexion could be made out. He didn't want to go to the dining hall. Getting laughed at for getting beat up by a female wasn't on his wish list for Santa.

So when his beaten bruised and broken body bequeathed his bed sheets as his own he was out like a candle in the wind- dragged into the land of nightmares. Nightmares which foretold of his father's disapproving scowl and the disappointed looks on his used-to-be friends' faces.

Waking up in a cold sweat was an understatement. He shook awake sopping wet with his own body water seeping into his clothes. He had a night-freight for the first time since he was eight. Now that he thought about it, since his departure from his only home he had experienced many things for the first time in a _long_ time.

He hated it and he wanted it to go away. Why wouldn't his father just leave him alone?! He even had to haunt him in his dreams! Kid growled angrily and rubbed his tired eyes. This was so wrong! He had to do something about it and right now. If he was going to lose sleep because of his stupid sense of what's right and what's wrong he needed to get rid of his subconscious.

'_How to get rid of my conscience?_' Thought Kid... "I let go of reality and let the madness consume me." He had never slept more peacefully before in his entire existence. That night Death the Kid dreamt of blood and violence and how he took control of the world and reigned as the ruler.

Petty and narcissistic, yes, but aren't all dreams a wish the heart makes?

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Medusa took another sip of her cup, peeking over the brim as she saw her 'prodigy' walk into the hall. She was sat down at her favourite table, wearing her favourite sinister cloak drinking her favourite disgusting juice.

Soon. The boy would be broken soon enough. She could already see it in his posture. He carried himself differently and the way he walked spoke of indifference. Medusa could tell that the boy had already given himself up to the madness inside. All that was left was that little barrier that all people have. They may not know it, but everyone has that small piece of resistance lodged deep inside that keeps us from truly being great.

A single thing had to be done to get rid of that little piece of resistance, and the circumstances couldn't be better. Everything was in place and all she had to do was give a little _shove_ in the right direction.

When the boy sat down she stood up. When he took a bite of food she took a bite at chance. One of the people she knew owed her from last time and she wasn't one to hold back on cashing in those favours to its full extent. This was all to her advantage, in the complete end, she trained him- he owed her and the cycle is continued ad infinitum...

Shitehawk saw Medusa leave the hall and cast a worried glance at Kid. He looked physically like a bruised apple, but mentally he acted like there was nothing wrong... and that was what worried him the most. Once you go beyond the point of no return... well... then there was no return...

"Eat some'ng, Kid, ya' look like shi'." Grudgingly the boy complied by taking a bite of an apple. He chewed slowly and gingerly; if the bruise on his cheekbone was any indication of his discomfort... "She 'eally do A num'er on ya', ain' she?" Death the Kid gave him a dry look then continued eating slowly and carefully.

The meal continued on in silence until Shitehawk spoke again. "The's gonna be anotha' hit tonig't. I O'nt think ya' fit fo' tha' run. Ya' stay 'ere wit' Arachnophobia an' help wit' tha' techno stuff."

He wasn't able to get a word in. The huge man stood up and left abruptly. Apparently he didn't want an argument and Kid wasn't even sure he would be able to put up a pretty decent one either. He was too physically harmed and exhausted to care. Of course he cared if he would be able to shoot someone or blow stuff up, but considering the circumstances he just didn't want to be debatable at all.

So he dumped the apple core in the middle of the table and stood up, pushing his chair in and walking to the operations room where the darkly dressed widower would be waiting for him. Technology wasn't really his forte. (He brought up). And he wouldn't really be much of a help as much as a nuisance who gets in the way. But at least he would be able to learn a little bit.

Knowledge was power.

Kid took a left and walked down a darkening staircase. He checked his gloves. Yup, they were still perfectly covering the incriminating scar. No use in letting anybody know that he had been a dumb ass who made the dumbest mistake in the world... like he cared.

After the staircase passed finding the room was harder than anticipated and he had to stop and ask directions. An angry looking midget man with a top hat and a weird nose directed him in the right direction and after that he found the room easily.

The night went by easily and without a hitch. All they had to get was three or so items... mostly cleaning supplies and metal casings... who knew what that was for. The cleaning supplies were understandable for there was blood everywhere and the place did smell like a dog house. The metal casings he had no idea what they were for. So after the group got the last item and were almost back home he turned to the woman.

Her lilac eyes were turned on the screen and stared at it almost lazily; she'd been playing solitaire since before he had entered the room. The headphones and mike was on the table switched off since their job was done and she ignored him like he was some sort of spider in the corner of the room that no one really notices until they're actually looking for it.

"What are the metal casings for? I understand why we would need mops and bleach, but what's up with the metal?" The mouse clicked on and she moved another card from the deck to one of the slowly growing rows. Her cheek rested in her palm and her elbow was asleep on the wooden table.

The bitch! She was ignoring him on purpose! "Are you going to answer me or do I have to shoot it out of you?"

"This coming from the person who was beaten up by my little sister."

That stuck a potato in his tail pipe. What did she just say? Was Medusa her _little_ sister?! They looked nothing alike! "Says the person who can't even win a game of solitaire! You could've finished the game two hours ago if you only used that damned joker and put it next to the king!"

"It's probably for the dogs." – "Wha?" "The metal casings; they're probably to finish off the cage where the animals would be held. Wouldn't it be absolutely messy if they get out and murder you in the middle of your precious sleep? It would be a pity if you die-"

"I didn't know you cared."

"-After all, who would entertain my little sister if her favourite punching bag was used as a chew toy for a bunch of slobbering mutts? Then I'd have to sit with her." Their argument was cut short. "Leave, I have useless games to play. Solitaire is more of a challenge than beating you in a verbal war." She spoke to herself the last part and proceeded with clicking the mouse and moving virtual cards around.

"Stupid witch." Kid muttered and closed the door behind him shutting her out and shutting the world out. If the world was going to be as cruel as her then he never wanted to live in it. He wanted to rule it. That was why he put up with the pain. That was why he was on his way to the training room where Medusa was bound to be. That is why he was going to push himself to the edge for the only purpose to get better.

That was why he sold his soul.

His father held the highest ranking position in the city. First the city and then the world. Prioritising is a good thing, that way you can't feel overwhelmed. Set small goals and work yourself up. Start with the fun things first... like getting beat up to beat his father up. Then work up to the things that are less fun... like killing everyone who can take revenge... like his friends.

The training room was empty... strange. For one: it was the training room and Medusa was always in here... was she out as well, hunting the people whom he fought alongside once upon a time, with the other thugs who lived here?

That was the only logical reason for her and everyone's absence. No wonder the halls had been empty. If he hadn't have known where this room was he would've had one hell of a time looking for this place. Who knew that the underground lair resting under a regular sized warehouse was so frisking _huge_?!

But that was to be expected; it wasn't like someone would hand him a map just because he joined the gang. How would people know who were spies and who were not? They seemed to accept him pretty easily... though that was probably because Asura and he had met before...

So what in the world was he supposed to do now? There wasn't really a lot to do around here if all the poker people were out killing. Kid supposed he could play with himself... simply thinking about it sounded wrong and perverted...

The boy sighed- he was bored almost to the brink of madness. Why did he have to have so much time on his hands? He wanted to go out and blow something to smithereens or at least shed some blood... even if it was just a little.

Having nothing better to do the boy went to his room. On the way there he saw that woman from his team approach him. Her lilac eyes drilled into his with a type of shock that Kid didn't even know she could portray. Something was wrong. This woman wasn't supposed to have emotions... little alone show them.

Kid was entirely befuddled. Wasn't he supposed to stay out of her sight? Now she came looking for _him_ with a jolt in her eyes. What was up with that? If there was one thing that the illegal Kid knew, was that this woman was frightened and he needed to know by what. Before he could ask though...

"Shitehawk's been captured by the police. They were caught robbing a jewellery store and they took him to the prison. They're going to execute him. Not that I care. The only reason this is bothering me is because they confiscated all the items and if our team comes back empty handed Asura will be the death of all."

His eyes grew to the size of saucers and his throat went dry. Shitehawk... captured... execute... This can't be happening! Sure he only knew the man for about a week now, but he felt a connection between the two of them. The man looked out for him and protected him... even if it didn't look or feel like it. He was like a brother to him.

And since he grew up as an only child he never had the experience to know what it felt like to have a sibling. Shitehawk was the closest thing he had. "We've got to save him!"

"Sure, little guy, let's go into a high-tech prison and break out a person who means nothing to anyone. Listen, the only _logical_ option we have is to go out and get all the supplies- we still have an hour and if we split up the job can be done quicker- it will be easier as well."

"We can't just leave him to die! He's a member of our team and we have to go save him!" Kid shouted. There was no way in heaven or underworld that they were going to abandon his 'brother'. The woman regarded him with a disgusted snarl. "My sister has got a long way to go with you before... whatever- I'm not going to be involved in this garbage, do what you want."

She left looking bored and uninterested. Kid looked even more disgusted. How can a person just abandon someone like that? Well not him- he was going to save Shitehawk before the execution and he already had a plan formulating in his brain.

Now... how does one go about breaking into the supply room?

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Death the Kid would be hated by everyone. This he knew when he ran out of the warehouse with more than a war's supply of ammo and a couple of grenades hooked to a utility-belt. He knew that breaking into the prison would not be easy and he also knew that the only way he was getting in there was if he blew the whole damn place's walls off.

Not much needed saying, but Kid was excited... like a girl going to the prom... He had no plan and the whole rescue mission would blow up in his face because of this. He was dressed for the dance of doom and destruction, but he had no date to accompany him and assist him with the improvisation mission.

Hell, he was even sure that if he wasn't successful that Asura would be even more pissed off. Wasting a Fu**load of ammunition on a single soul and shooting a Sh**load of soldiers was a sure-fire way of putting the limelight on their gang.

And even now as he crouched behind a prison wall panting like a thirsty dog he knew that he wouldn't escape the consequences lightly if he came back empty handed. Heck, if he came back empty handed he should just stay the damn away.

Another thing he was thankful for was internet. Thanks to the wonderful tech and a certain someone's hacking skills he was able to breach the prison's firewall and uncover the date of Shitehawk's sentence... it was 75h 15min 8sec from... now.

Kid checked his watch and checked it again. He had more than enough time to get in and get out. The only question he had was what he was going to do with the excess time? He wasn't going back to training with Medusa that was for sure- he still had bruises and was sore. Maybe he could go to his world on the top of that hill and lose himself in the serene tranquillity of the trains.

Kid closed his eyes and listened. The shouting had ceased- so that meant that the guards had stopped looking for him. Good... good. Tripping the alarm wasn't one of his best moves and almost getting caught was a dumb move. So when he regained his breath and checked his gun's chamber- glad it was still fully loaded- the blurring of the prison alarm invaded his quiet musings.

Maybe he should just have blown up a wall instead of crawling through a ventilation shaft (being abnormally skinny had its ups). What was he supposed to do with two grenades now? "Here! We haven't checked this way yet! Search every corner, he couldn't have gotten far!"

Sh*t! Boots clicked on the floor and at least three pairs headed his way. In a matter of seconds at least three guards would have bullets popped between their skull caps. And then his position would be made common knowledge and a whole prison of guards would be dropping down on him like dead bodies in a graveyard.

Kid takes deep breathes and pulls back on the hammer and releases it with a CLICK! The steps silence. "Did you hear that?" A voice whispers from around the corner. Now or never. All goes to hell. Kid slid from behind cover a shoots. "Taking fire! Find cover!" Yells the leader, only to end up with a bulleted mouth. Kid ducks behind a laundry basket as bullets scrape along the wall and flood the metal bin.

The clank-clank-kaClunk of bullets against metal distracts Kid from his initial fear. This was an isolated hall. No one would be able to hear the shots or the screams from here. The laundry room made too much noise to just ignore therefore the prison made soundproof walls especially just to keep the white noise of washing machines at bay.

Kid was safe.

"Requesting backup, two men down- one seriously injured. We're cornered down in the-"

Kid shoots and hits the target. The hand radio clatters to the ground as the woman yells in agony and grips her bleeding hand. She reaches for her weapon and fires a few rounds. One hits home and burrows into Kid's shoulder- the wound bleeding profusely. Gritting his teeth the youth refuses to acknowledge the woman's marksmanship.

The teenager presses his hand to the wound and crazed eyes glow brightly. Now he's having FUN! Death the Kid laughs maniacally- surprising the one remaining soldier. "Rosemarie, I've heard about you. You're the main guard in charge of criminal safety. No wonder your aim is as remarkable as mine. Unfortunately for you, you're comrades are down for the count. Luckily I didn't shoot to kill. Sure one of them won't be able to speak for... ever again, but they'll live... if they don't die of blood loss..."

At this Kid laughs again. Rosemarie cradles her bloody hand close to her breast. Her eyes shoot over to the radio. It was a little out of cover from where she hides behind a washing machine... She peeks through the crevice between the washer and the wall. A small patch of black hair pokes out from behind the laundry bin.

Detergent slowly drips onto the white floor. The shelves are shot to shila and the softener leaks onto the groaning form of her comrade. Things don't look good on her side and she has no idea what this psycho plans. Something in his voice sounds familiar, but she can't put her finger on it... probably because her finger was twitching on her trigger- just waiting for a reason.

"Who are you and why are you doing this?" She shouts over her shoulder- not taking her sight off the small communicator. Rosemarie shuffles slightly closer and stops. She waits to see if he had notices her moving. At first the male doesn't answer, the only sound to be heard is leaking and dropping fluids. Along with the occasional heavy breathing... wait... had she hit him?

Rosemarie looked again... yes, red was slowly crawling like an infant from behind his cover. At least she had a few says in this battle. "My name is... of no importance... as far as I'm concerned... you're concerned I have no name and my identity is as good as useless." Silence drags on for no longer than one second before the remote crackles into life and a distressed voice drones through in static and electric scrubs.

"Come in squad three. Distress call interpreted. Repeat repeat, distress call interpreted. Confirm location, over." Rosemarie takes action. She bolts from behind the machine and heads for the handheld. She didn't get far.

Kid stands up and fires at the device. It explodes and plastic, wires and chips scatter across the ground. Smoke drifts up from the singed remains. The woman grabs at her hand which bleeds and throbs painfully. Her weapon was reached for, but kicked away by black clad boots.

She dare not look up. Fear cradled her heart like a bird with a broken wing, its snake-like grip squeezing the hope out of her. She is out in the open. No weapon and no backup in sight. Along with a psychopathic killer standing over her with a gun probably pointed at her head.

"Black isn't your colour." She whispers. Kid stares at her with crazed eyes. His shoulder hurt like an ironing brand presses down on his naked skin. Keeping composure was more important to him than his desire to kill; cocking his head Kid raises a brow. "Oh? Well since the woman with a gun to her head wants to so eagerly give me fashion advice... please indulge me."

Rosemarie fears for what would happen... but looks up nonetheless. What she saw shocked her... Nothing in her training could ever have trained her for this! Psycho was Death the Kid... Lord Death's son!

"No! How could this be happening! We were all so sure that you would turn out differently! Maybe we should have listened to your father. He always knew better and he was right all this time no matter how much we doubted him. He knew that you took after _him_!"

"What does this have to do with my fashion?"

"Screw the fashion! What happened that you turned out like this? What happened?!"

"Do I know you?" Kid asked with a smile and a slight turn of his head. He didn't know her but she clearly knew him. "And does anything you say make sense?" Kid was toying with her and she knew it.

"You are Death the Kid and your colour is brown. These boots aren't working it; not any more. When a person changes personalities they must also change colours- it's supposed to be done subconsciously, but your mind is clearly messed up right now. Colours represent a person's personality and at this moment brown would work wonders."

This raised another brow? Rosemarie continued... "Not because it represents you, the colour, but because it is at such a contrast to whom you are now. You changed so much I didn't recognise you until I saw your lines of Sanzu. You are the absolute opposite of who you were and therefore the colour brown represents you well enough!"

Kid closed his mouth and all playfulness drowned along with the strangled bird. The snake got tired of squeezing and squeezing. There was no more fun and if the bird is of no use... "You can then happily enjoy the opposite of life." He said grimly. The tattoos over his lips made him look mad and not to mention accentuated his words. They were the last words the woman would hear...

The other men were left there in the room... groaning and bleeding. And along with their rapidly draining life essence their life source slowly ebbed away into murky blackness of fear's cage where the skeletons of the other victims lay scattered on the ground of crumbled hope.

Fear is powerful

And

Fear is victorious.

¤CM¤


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

A week. That was how much time had passed since Death the Kid went missing. His friends were worried. His father was... worried. And the faculty were worried. The authorities couldn't care less. They had more important things at hand. For one: criminal activities have risen since Asura's escape and more than half of their men and women were shot dead or injured and in the infirmary.

Despite what their priorities were they were urged to seek the missing meister and bring him back to safety before something bad could happen to him. Lord Death was reserved in this mission. He loved his son, but he had his suspicions about what had happened to him. He had turned. Personalities change under great stress... why would Kid be an exception? It was in his blood all along, all the evil inside him needed was a spark to activate.

All Kid needed was a reason.

"How do you propose we solve this dilemma? People are being murdered and meisters are going missing. Not just your son, but other's as well. We have to take immediate action."

"Well then the solution is obvious: a curfew for everyone and a drastic increase in patrol. Do not think that I am not aware of our current situation, Stein, it is merely that I have been preoccupied with my son's disappearance."

The ever-present cigarette was missing and was rather replaced with a mouth twisting scowl. Usually the professor would remain stoic and look at things as rationally as his crazy mind would allow, but enough was enough. Meisters were going missing and all the man cared about was his son whom he never really cared about.

Stein shook his head and left. He didn't want anything to do with this man's family life and this situation was getting dangerously close to what he was trying to avoid. The doors to the room burst open and Sid came running in. He was panting and doubled over- gripping his knees. Both men stared at the zombie. His blue tinted skin looked slightly pale and his eyes were wide.

"Alarms to the prison went off. This wouldn't have concern us, but it does, and I'm not the type of man to keep secrets from you. A guard reported seeing your son enter the jail earlier this evening, but he couldn't be sure- he's changed. At least that's what the man says." Sid stood upright and looked at the passive faces of both the scientist and the reaper.

"But his suspicions were confirmed when a radio leakage identified him as Death the Kid by our own Rosemarie Porter. No further news was received, but I have cautioned all the guards. Should we send out a team to extract your son before he can cause anymore damage?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation and Lord Death spoke seriously. Such behaviour would have been strange, but Stein knew better. "Send at least a dozen of our best three star meisters. He is my son and it seems he isn't in his right mind. We need to be as cautious as possible."

Stein nodded and left. The reaper looked like he needed a moment alone to gather his thoughts. When the professor reached the hall outside his classroom he saw Kid's friends idly strolling towards their next class. He didn't have a class to teach the previous period so he had enough time to let a group of meisters know of their orders before returning...

The smaller meisters looked incredibly depressed. Even Blackstar's highly energetic mood was dampened by the mysterious disappearance of their beloved friend. They seemed drained and tired and Stein was immediately curious.

Before they could enter the room he stepped in front of the group and addressed them. "What's with the down expressions?"

Lethargic eyes glanced at him. The globes that were once so full of life looked glazed over and tired... oh so _tired_. Maka yawned and covered it in time with her hand before replying, mid yawn, "Nothing, professor, we were just up late last night looking for-"

"Her school books." Soul interrupted quickly; elbowing the girl in the ribs and giving her a sideward glance. Soul sheepishly rubbed at his neck and laughed nervously. "Yeah, you know how Maka just loves to study and be the know-it-all of the entire class."

That earned him a glare from the blond girl, but they all seemed to go with the obvious lie. Stein didn't bother to question them further when the bell rang. He sighed and simply entered the class; taking obvious note of the slumping of tense shoulders.

What shocked Stein the most was that his class was nearly completely empty. There were pairs of students here and there, but most of the tables were abandoned and completely empty. Odd. He checked his roster and noted with utter confusion that he _did_ have a class to teach the third period. Just as well, he shrugged internally, he didn't have a lesson planned out for today- he was too preoccupied with other matters to bother go hunting for another animal to dissect.

"Open your books to page three hundred and one. Read through it and then discuss it with a partner- if you have questions don't come and ask me." Ox was the only person to put up his hand. His face spoke of studious anger. "Yes, Ox?"

"There isn't a page numbered 301 in our handbooks, the limit is 276, were you talking about another book? If you were I feel the need to inform you that we have not received any knowledge of having to get a new book at the administrative office."

A tic formed on the professor's head, but he pushed his irritation aside. "Very well... you have homework for tomorrow- I want you to write me a 5000 word essay on the history of our language. Because it seems that when I told you not to ask questions you seemed to have not understood my command as though I have spoken in a foreign tongue that you don't understand. Congratulations, Ox."

The student's smug look faltered and the remaining people in the class snickered. "As for the rest of you,' he said, "You pass today's lesson; on how to follow instructions without disobeying orders. For the rest of the period you may keep yourselves busy with drawing... or counting the molecules in your saliva for all I care, just don't bother me."

Simultaneously the small group of friends lay their heads down softly against their desks and closed their eyes. Stein sympathised with them... he's sure they were all terribly tired after all the book searching they've done the previous night...

Soul was first to speak once he saw the professor's gaze drift from their group. "Great going ,Maka, you almost ruined our cover!"

The girl merely grunted.

"Don't do _that_ to me! We all know that if they find out what we've been doing that they would put an end to it immediately. We can't stop looking for Kid, guys! He's our friend and we all make sacrifices to get him back. I know we're tired, but we have to... have to..." Soul's head slipped from where he's been propping it up and his head hit the table.

They weren't listening anyway. They were too busy catching up on the sleep they had lost the previous night. Liz mumbled something and Patty was already blowing snot bubbles in her sleep. Blackstar looked at them all with triumphant bags under his eyes. He looked just as tired as they, but there was no way on earth that he would admit that.

"HA! Once again the great BLACKSTAR has outwitted you all by staying awake the longest! WHOOO!"

Yet he still had enough energy to shout that. "You can join Ox with that report for tomorrow, Blackstar. Next time try keeping your voice down." Stein said in a slow string of words, like a parent would do when talking to their toddler.

Blackstar's bubble burst and someone threw a book at his head. He turned around to glare, but apparently the culprit died in the past few seconds. With a huff the boy sat down. "I ain't doing no stupid essay." He mumbled and crossed his arms.

He turned his head to glare daggers at his teacher only to find him standing behind him like a looming statue in a graveyard. "AAAH!" Blackstar jumped about ten feet in the air. Every eye in class crescent moon turned to him and the sleeping students woke groggily.

"I heard that." Stein said in a creepily foreshadowing voice. The light reflected off his glasses and made his eyes entirely unable to see. "Just for that little comment you are to work _with_ Ox on your essay and if it isn't handed in tomorrow morning when that bell rings for the start of my class you can consider yourself as failing your year and needing to redo it."

With a creepy smile the older man left. Blackstar sulked. Ox looked even more depressed than their entire group put together. But he wisely chose to keep his mouth shut. He had already gotten an exam pad out and was getting a head start on his assignment. The blue haired boy, on the other hand, chose to inspect his muscles and see if they were big enough for his ego to accept.

Turns out they weren't.

"MAN THIS **SUCKS** I CAN'T WAIT 'TIL THIS PERIOD IS OVEER ALL I WANT TO DO IS GET TO PE! Sid totally thinks I'm the best!" This time it was Maka who hit him over the head with her _276_ paged handbook. Her head was still resting on her folded arm, but she didn't even have to look where she was hitting- her aim was impeccable... years of practice I guess.

"_Attention all students." _The intercoms in the school crackled to life- jerking all meisters from their respectable activity. "It has come to our attention that the streets of Death City have become too dangerous at night for anyone to cruise around. So henceforth there has been a curfew put in place,'

"All citizens of the city must be in their homes before 8 'O clock in the evening. Children are to be at home strictly after school. No exceptions allowed. Those who fail to comply with these new, but hopefully temporary, rules will be put in a holding cell until further judgement would be able to take hold of the situation."

The halls were as silent as a graveyard and the tension that hung overhead was even more dramatic than a funeral at one. All five friends looked at each other. Soul and Maka. Blackstar. Liz and Patty. Tsubaki was at home- too worn out to take on the day.

"Tonight will be our last search, guys, and then we'll have to call it and leave it to Lord Death." Liz said when all heads turned to her, head of the search party, for clarification on what to do.

Shoulders sagged and expressions changed to downcast.

"This is out last shot, guys, so we gotta aim high and hope we hit home!"

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"Shoot higher! We'll hit him then send him home crying to his mother!"

"You'll find out soon enough how well that plan works out! I don't even have a mother, you idiots!"

'_This is not good,'_ Death the Kid thought as he ducked back down. The bullet proof glass has proven to be less than projectile proof. Glass pieces were scattered around the tiny cubicle of the security room. Unconscious guards lay amongst bullet shells and blood and the alarm wouldn't stop its damn clutter!

It was nearing nine in the morning and still Kid had made no progress. It was supposed to be: get in and get out. That's it. Do the job quickly and quietly. That worked out perfectly for him, didn't it? So now, as he sat blocked in a small room- safety glass all around him and blinking panels showing the activity of all the prisoners of the prison, he knew that his plan ended up like yesterday's garbage...

More shots rang out and he was fed up with all of it! His shoulder hurt and he was bleeding and he was hurting. Shitehawk's execution would be executed soon and he still had NO idea where in the hell he was.

Kid sighed. He closed his eyes. This was easy. All he had to do was...

Kid stood up and shot at the guards wildly while making his way over to a flashing panel. They took cover and gave him a life saving gap. His hand slammed down onto a red button. You're _never_ supposed to press the red button.

The monitors overhead were like a movie and Kid was enjoying this particular film. Cell doors unlocked with a pneumatic hiss. Cranks clanked as they removed themselves from their holes and set free an entire prison of deathly, deadly, dangerous and deranged criminals.

How was that for an excellent plan?! Kid needed a distraction and now he had one.

"DAMN! Retreat! Call in more backup!"

"_The prisoners are escaping and the lockdown access panel is in the security room! No we can't... Systems are down; we have to activate it manually!"_

"You are all so pathetic! You can't even do anything for yourself you have to get permission for your superiors first!" Kid laughed cruelly. "I remember when I was like that, but then I grew a backbone and stopped being a baby!"

The wailing alarms didn't stop and he had to shout to be able to know for sure that the backup squad (who were crying for backup) could hear him. It pleased him greatly to know that he had such control over them all.

The door to the room buckled, but the computer chairs he piled there held their own. He had brigaded himself in the cramped room- the only way in now was through the window and he had that covered like a person had insurance covered...

Another bulled broke the 'shot-proof' window. So much for insurance coverage. The sharp shards cut through the air and crashed onto the floor. Kid stared and ducked. The panels were soon to be fried and smoke would cloud the room when that happened. He had to get out of there NOW!

He fired repressive shots and took cover beneath the window.

"Why so silent all of a sudden? Did babies wet their pants? Or did you go and cry to your mommies that you couldn't even beat a 15 year old?!"

...

Kid dared to take a peek over the edge of the broken glass. Bloodied bodies lay there. It looked like their necks were slashed... eew. He didn't do that. He only does bloodied holes. That was his talent.

A talent only recently discovered.

Anyway... at least one of his problems was now solved... only... now he had another problem at hand. Psychopathic murderers were running around. And the one he was looking for was amongst them. And he had to find him. Without being killed. While trying to escape from guards. That keep coming in like a dam that was set loose to flow freely. How hard could that be?

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To recap... he had murdered 10 people in one night. Blood was spilled accidentally when his finger slipped on the trigger. He couldn't help it. It was just so damn fun to pull the trigger! Shitehawk ran beside him, panting slightly.

He was dressed in the usual prison uniform and was shaved clean. His usual shaggy hair was cut down to a military grade hair cut. And he had made it clear earlier, when Kid had found him beating the snot out of a cop, that he despised it utterly!

Kid had chosen not to comment.

"Ho' ya find me, man?"

"I followed the trail of death, depression and damn near destruction... and I set every prisoner free. Good thing I checked the officer's lounge first. Figures you would want to take revenge."

"I like hittin' thin's."

Kid smiled awkwardly at him. "Just take care that you don't hit me. I would appreciate it if you didn't; I get beat up enough by Medusa already."

Shitehawk glanced at him with concern. Then grabbing Kid by the shoulders he pulled him into a storage closet in the main hall that lead to the exit. Freedom was just a few steps away, but the larger man just had to stop to tell him something... figures.

"I was't s'posed to tell ya this, Kid, but ya saved my lif'e an I think I owe ya... Medusa is a bitch. She ain't gonna stop wi't just beatin' tha crap outa' ya, she's gonna scar you fo' life by doin' something tha' will affect ya fo'ever."

He paused; hesitating over telling him what happens next.

"I wen't throu'gh tha same thin'g, ya know? Da bitch was the'e since tha beginnin' of time... she... she kill'ed my family. My mum and dad... she even kill'ed my baby gi'rl." His voice was choked, but no tears were found in sight.

"She was on'y five. On'y five when they pull'd her f'om my home, b'ought her to the ware'ouse and... and..." Shitehawk sounded incredibly close to tears, so Kid intervened before the first drops could fall.

"Calm yourself. We can't afford a mental breakdown so close to freedom-" Shitehawk grabbed Kid's collar. He pulled him closer. Kid's eyes widened. "Tha's jus' it. Ya' never 'ave free'om. Eve'n when ya think ya'll be free, ya won't! Ya'll always be trapp'ed with ya'self and yer thoughts,'

"Ya'll spend eve'y minute of yer remaining life thinkin' what ya could've done ta' help 'em... what ya could've done diffe'ently ta' save the'r lives..." Speaking softly and solemnly; Shitehawk slowly let go of the teen's shirt. Kid only waited.

The bulking man took a deep breath. "Don't tru'st da bitch. She's gonna fuck wit' ya' life an leave notin' behind but a b'oken shell of a pe'son ya once were." As those words sunk in they took leaving the prison, wails of alarms, shouting of prisoners and anguished cries of guards, behind.

The double doors up front were shattered and broken and the day light outside was eye-blinding when they stepped out. It was late afternoon. And once their eyes adjusted they could see criminals running through the forest and straight into Death City...

Shitehawk grinned, his previous sadness long gone. "At 'east we 'on't 'ave to wor'y 'bout tha' cops an'ymore." He laughed, Kid smirked, and they left. Their shoes left tracks in the ground that even the snow of the high mountain couldn't cover up fast enough.

Soon the bony trees surrounded them. White pure snow was slowly being stained with red that dripped from Kid's shoulder. He didn't mind. Healing was something he did better than anyone else and a small bullet wound like that had nothing on him! He would be better by tomorrow.

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By the time the two got back to the warehouse it was early dusk. Gang members crowded them. Some of them Kid had never even seen before. Others he would most likely have killed on site if it weren't for the masses.

But all of them knew what had happened to Shitehawk. And they were also aware of the stunt Kid had pulled with the armoury. So as such he was rewarded with both good natured shoulder punches and the not so good- arm dislocating shoulder punches.

Both were accepted with mild irritation and a hand twitch towards his gun.

Some hits were even landed on his injured shoulder. When one fat dude landed one exceptionally painful punch Kid pulled his pistol and aimed. This caused every gang member to pull their hidden weapons and point at each other.

Soon they found themselves in a standoff. No one was willing to put their guns away nor was anyone willing to get shot. Laughter interrupted their spiteful banter of bullets and barrels. "Looks like the little Kid lusts for more than _just _lead in his lungs... he craves other's blood as well..."

All guns snapped safety locks back on and were out of sight faster than a fat person can run to an all-you-can-eat-buffet. The crowd dispersed and Asura stalked through. His red gaze drilled into kid's golden one.

"If I didn't know any better I would've said that you had a death wish."

"If I didn't know any better I would've said that your breath doesn't smell like death, but we can all agree that if I said that then I would be wrong. So unless you have something meaningful to say to justify why you are breathing up all the clean air then I would suggest we all just leave... before I kill someone."

Asura laughed again. But there was no mirth in his chuckling. It was a mad noise that only a person as psychopathic as Asura could pull off.

"It is frightening how much arrogance you hold. Someone with your talent shouldn't squander it with something so idiotic such as sarcasm. You should nurture your anger and direct it at something much more meaningful that still contributes to society... such as killing all the idiots and corrupt police..."

Kid scoffed. "Why then haven't you done anything about the police? You've got enough ammo in the hideout to... to... destroy an entire city!" Kid named off the top of his head. What he said may have just been something to agitate Asura, but it was true as well. With the hoarded amount of grenades and LEDs there was enough explosive power in their illegal HQ to blow a city as big as theirs to high hell!

"Your tongue seems to serve no other purpose than to anger me... maybe I should cut it off then sow it back on." At a snap of his fingers two large men grabbed both Kid's scrawny arms and held him still.

Death the Kid's eyes grew in size. Asura smiled at the fear in the golden gaze. "Yes. That would be entertaining and a suitable punishment for your insolence." He looked at Gerecho. A stainless steel knife was placed in Asura's hand.

The steel gleamed. It was as sharp as a bitch's insults... strike that... it was as sharp as Medusa's insults and as deadly as a friend's betrayal. The incoming blade reassured a perfect and precise cut.

One of the men holding him in place opened his mouth. Kid wanted to bite down more than he wanted to breathe. All he could manage was to throw his head slightly from side to side. He tried protesting, but came out as pathetic noises and gurgled grunts.

"You see now what you are rewarded with?" Asura leaned in close. "The bond says nothing about pain infliction or physical harm." His breath was rotten and vile on his ear shell. "Funny how a bond so deadly can manipulate things. I consider you a _thing_, Kid." He whispered softly.

Pulling back he pressed the knife into Kid's mouth and added pressure to his eating muscle. Revelling in the sound that the boy made, Asura took his fearfully sweet time torturing the young shinigami.

"Well well well... looks like you're not going to leave anything for me to torture..." Asura's head snapped up. His enraged gaze met Medusa's then shifted over to her... company. His mood did a 180 at what he saw.

Suddenly his anger was forgotten. His mouth split into a disturbing grin. He looked at her then back at **his** victim... then back at her and _her_ victims. "I presume you know him?" Asura asked the four captives.

Kid looked confused. Whoever Asura was talking to were behind him so he had no idea who they were. And the knife was still in his mouth putting pressure on his tongue so he didn't even want to dare turn around...

"So shocked you can't even vocalise? Well, maybe Kid will recognise you..."

Asura pulled the knife from his mouth and the two large men spun him around. Kid was just as shocked as they. Bound before him were his friends... Soul, Maka, Liz and Patty... He was shocked, but not speechless. "What are you doing here?" He addressed Medusa. "What are they doing here?"

Asura cut in. "They are here to provide me some entertainment," His eyes danced up and down Kid's form, "And to give you what you deserve. Medusa, I'm afraid you won't be getting them until after I'm finished..."

"Meaning I'll never get them... or get them back piece by piece..." The woman seemed highly irritated by this and didn't try to mask her annoyance.

Kid watched them talk. Fear growing like a deformed child. His eyes grew larger. He turned his head to them. They watched him, paralyzed in their own awe. The group of friends had not known where Kid was, but they had never even had nightmares about him being here...

Liz and Patty looked more sad than angry.

Kid had no idea how to react. He never wanted his friends to see him like this. He never wanted them to know where he was and he never wanted them to ever, EVER witness the day when he had fallen so far... It made him feel self-conscious... it made him feel like a monster. Maybe he was a monster...

"It has been quite a long time since we've had the games..." Gang members started roaring in both protest and cheers. Shitehawk looked as pale as a sheet. Asura frowned. "SHUT UP!" he bellowed.

The one unfortunate soul who didn't quiet down fast enough was rewarded with a knife thrown into his trachea. "The gladiators who will be participating will be purely voluntary." He looked around expectantly. No one raised their arms or made any move to volunteer. "What a pity. Due to circumstances I will _choose_ our participants."

He pointed with one slender finger at each of the four prisoners in turn. "You... ah-you and you... mmmm aaand.., YOU!" Their nomination was predictable. "And the guest of honour would be our very own Kid."

Asura then turned around and walked away. The crowd cheered and roared once again. The two men gripped Kid tighter than was necessary. Bruises were sure to form. The pain didn't register at all. Kid was too lost in his maze-like confusion.

His friends were pulled up all too rudely as well by their lovely escorts and dragged down a dark hallway. Halfway down they were thrown down the stairs. It was dark and damp. The man laughed rudely.

"Put them in separate cages; Kid might just cause death accidentally, you know how he is with his urges for blood." The men all laughed. They pried them harshly off the ground and threw them in separate filthy cages- like animals.

Kid hit the wall hard and grunted as his shoulder was jarred. He heard the door slam and locked- along with similar others. His friends. They got his friends and intended to throw them all into some sort of game. And Kid suspected that these games wouldn't involve running around with pillows and hitting each other until the feathers flew.

Fire was lit and a soft glow over took the dank stone walls.

The alcoves were small and held torches that were evenly distributed along the walls. This underground storage place for prisoners was bigger than Kid had thought. The men were _still_ lighting the walls that swept down in both directions.

GREAT! He had just gotten out of one prison only to be dumped into another not too long after. How absolutely fantastic! He was like a frigin' prisoner of war with the way he was thrown from one prison to the other.

Kid curled up in the corner of his cage; hugging his knees close to his chest. He didn't want to face his friends. He didn't want to talk to them and he didn't even want to look at them. Seeing the look of betrayal stinging in their eyes would be too much to handle.

"Kid, what happened to you?" The voice came from the cage beside his. It was soft, sad and disappointed. It was to voice of Liz. Kid refused to move. He refused to answer. Curling tighter into himself the incredibly young reaper felt hot water leak down his cheeks.

How could he? How dare he betray his friends? They trusted him with something that no one could ever replace once broken... he betrayed their loyalty he betrayed their trust... and he betrayed their love for him.

Something like that can never be replaced. Never. Trust is a very _fragile_ thing. It's like an eraser... you can make mistakes and it can wipe them away, but with every mistake you make- trust becomes smaller and smaller... until it is gone.

The same with love. The same with loyalty.

"I thought you were stronger than this, Kid." Liz turned her back on her friend and descended and disappeared into the shadows of her cell. Kid's shoulders shook and he took a rattling breath and let the tears flow.

No noise came out, Kid tried hard to not show that he was crying. He can't let them see him being weak. Letting them know that he was crying would portray him as weak. _'I'm not weak. Don't cry, you coward! Suck it up and be a man! You chose this so you have to deal with it! If you can't even handle this you don't deserve to live.' _

With a final shuddering breath Kid stopped weeping. His shoulders stilled and his heaving breathing silenced. His eyes, red rimmed and slightly puffy from the salty tears, looked up at the dirty stone wall.

His eyes, cold and lifeless, stared out from beneath his fringe. Kid vowed that whatever these games were that he would fight and win. Even with a capped shoulder and broken love, he wouldn't fail, because his objection lied in the fate of if he wins or loses. In other words, losing isn't an option.

"_Men will always be mad, and those who think they can cure them are the maddest of all."_

_-Voltaire_

¤CM¤


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

_Interviewer: "We have with us today a survivor of the Witch Prison break in, Rosemarie Porter, who will shed some light on the current situation. Miss. Porter, would you so kindly explain to us how it is you have survived the brutal attack, by the unknown assailant?" _

_Rosemarie: "Certainly. On the night of the assault, or rather Maniac Destruction Night (MDN), my squad was assigned to apprehend the suspect and bring him in for questioning. This goes without saying, but our attempts went horribly wrong. We were cornered in one of the lower levels of the prison and that is where our culprit took charge of the situation.'_

_ "Some of my soldiers were fatally wounded and one died of blood loss, I would have seen my end as well, were it not for my rescue by one of my other men. You see, the criminal shot me in the head, but miraculously missed any of my vital signs, and as you can clearly see the only loss that I have are one of my eyes.'_

_ "And as for the identity of our murderer it is less than unknown."_

_Interviewer: "In that case, the whole city and I would like our curiosity to be sated. We are all aware of why Death City is under curfew: the horrible crime increase and disappearance of minors, but we would all love to know who is responsible for all of the madness going on."_

_Rosemarie: "So far we have no further development of intelligence concerning the disappearances, but it is mildly known to us that were we to discover any more information that it is to be reported directly to Lord Death on his hotline 42-42-564; anyone who have seen any suspicious happenings in their surroundings should waste no time in reporting any of it,'_

_ "Lives may be saved. Patrols will be sent out to assure the safety of our citizens, so rest assured that you will be protected at night. Who our murderer is, will come as a shock to us all. Believe me when I say that even I was extremely confused when I first discovered who he was."_

_Interviewer: "You say _'he' _so is it safe to assume that the murderer is male?"_

_Rosemarie: "Yes, he is very much male. But before we get to that I would like to get back to the disappearances. Parents, please inform us if any of your children have gone missing so that we can get on it as soon as possible. We know that the kidnappers may have some affiliation with the prison break earlier this week and the man who escaped is _**extremely** _dangerous._

_ "None of us would like to see any harm come to the children so it would be most wise to notify the authorities of any missing minors as soon as possible." _

_Interviewer: "The emergency number that is toll free is 42-42-564, call because life is precious. We'll get back to the interview, right after these messages..."_

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_Interviewer:_ "And we're back here at _**KZN**_, _speaking with Rosemarie Porter, a survivor from the MDN, who had willingly come forth to help put an end to the mindless murders and shed some light on our increasingly dramatic situation. We are currently flooded with calls from all over Death City with the same question on lips: Who is responsible for the criminal rise and deaths of officers? And who is the notorious mad-murderer who seems to kill for fun?'_

_ "Miss. Porter, please, continue where we left off- right where you were about to reveal the identity of our culprit."_

_Rosemarie: "It has been known to me that by revealing the identity of said male would cause an increase of disruptions and upsets amongst you, the listener, but I strongly believe that it is for the greater good that we all be aware of whom to avoid and report instantly when seen.'_

_ "The increase of crime in the area can be pointed back to the escape of up to 2000 dangerous criminals that have been known to kill ruthlessly and out of sure vengeance. The one who is responsible for this is none other than Death the Kid, the young shinigami who was presumably to be Lord Death's successor..."_

_Interviewer: "Calls seem to increase and the lines are occupied to their capacity..."_

_Rosemarie: "We are aware that you may have questions, so I will answer some of the FAQ's. Yes, this is code Alfa red, I repeat, code Alfa red. Use of firearms is permitted for defence, but explosive weapons are strictly prohibited. One of the prisoners who have also escaped is allegedly the notorious gang leader Asura."_

_Interviewer: "We are now accepting calls, so listeners stay tuned and keep updated on the latest news, here on __**KZN! **__We are now speaking with a mister James Downey from downtown Death City. Good evening MisterDowney, what are your thoughts on the situation?"_

_James: "The f**k are you tryin' to pull?! I be here sittin' and eatin' my beans then I hear this s**t about another g** damn apocalypse rainin' down on us in a storm of bullets, explosives and crazy assed mother f***ers!" _

_Interviewer: "We are aware that you are frightened, as are we all, what with the rise of both Asura __**and**__ Death the Kid, but that is no excuse for your foul language. There are children listening."_

_James: "Me f***ing scared?! Are you on the piss, lady?! I'm fu***ing going into mother fu***ing suicide mode! Who the f**k would __**want**__ to live if they knew what was comin'?! ~~~_BANG BANG BANG~~~"

...

...

Interviewer: "_I think he... think he just shot himself..."_

_Rosemarie: "Now is not a time to panic. We need to stand together and get through this as a civilised society."_

_Interviewer: "This just in: Chaos downtown as hoarder's raid local armoury. Several people were shot and fatally wounded in the madness. The masses seem to be singing _'Hail the apocalypse' Police are moving in the subdue the-"

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There is a storm heading our way

All that's been will be gone

All your cities will sink into the ocean

You run away like cattle

But you cannot flee the battle

Wipe your ass; it's time to put on your war paint

Throw the spear

Let your hatred fly

Throw your spear

Let your hatred fly

The desert is my prophet

As our lives end by the minute

Stand up straight and fucking put on your war paint

Time to die

Hammer high

Name your price

And kneel

**Hail the Apocalypse**

All flesh is equal when burnt

We are forgiven

Forgive as we never shall learn

Get down. **Hail the Apocalypse!**

Once you built

Now you run away, the world's coming down

Leave your mark upon the graves of your stillborn

Just wrap it up in plastic

**Isn't killing things fantastic?**

Fuck your greed!

Come on and put on your war paint

Die

Hammer high

Name your price

And kneel

**Hail the Apocalypse**

All flesh is equal when burnt

We are forgiven

Forgive as we never shall learn

Get down, **Hail the Apocalypse!**

All the Lords I've sworn to obey

All the Lords I've sworn to obey

I take it back

All the Lords I've sworn to obey

All the Lords I've sworn to obey

I take it back

**Hail the Apocalypse**

All flesh is equal when burnt

We are forgiven

Forgive as we never shall learn

Get down, **Hail the apocalypse!**

#$% #$% #$% #$%

_Interviewer:_ _"-Seem to be experiencing... technical difficulties... system... hacked."_

_Rosemarie: "Don't pAniC... SaF__e__... hide...HOuSe... __C__O__d__E Alfa red-" _

#$% #$% #$% #$%

Dime todo lo que paso

No me di cuenta ni quien me pego

Todo da vueltas como un carrusel

Locura recorre todita mi piel

(X2):

Wake me up before I change again

Remind me of the story that I won't get

**Insane**

Tell me why it's always the same

Explain me the reason why I'm so much in

Pain

(X2):

Before I change again...

Remind me the story that I won't get

**Insane**

Before I change again...

Remind me the story that I won't get

**Insane**

(X2):

Voy perdiendo, perdiendo

Voy perdiendo, perdiendo

Voy perdiendo, perdiendo

Voy perdiendo, perdiendo

Voy perdiendo el suelo...

_**I'm becoming insane.**_

(X12):

Insane, insane, insane, insane, I'm

Becoming insane!

#$% #$% #$% #$%

_Mystery: "To all those out there who believe there is still hope, to those who dare have courage or those who dare be brave: Asura is coming for you, and there is nowhere to hide. End of transmission."_

_..._

_..._

Asura broke the radio with his gloved fist. That damn boy has ruined everything for him with that little stunt he pulled! But he has also given him an ample opportunity to instil fear into the public. That was where Arachnophobia had come in with her hacking skills. She always had a talent for planting bugs and finding back entrances.

All this frustration was putting him in a killing mood. He was so full of anger right now! And the increasing incompetence of his followers didn't help at all. If those idiots screwed up one more time the cops were sure to discover their location and it will all burn to hell:

Only after Kid and his comrades were imprisoned did they find a tracker locked around Shitehawk's ankle. If they were lucky the cops wouldn't show up here at all. They had removed the locator and dumped it in a bag and sent it on its merry way down a river.

Assuming the man had committed suicide the cops would stifle their search for him and continue with more important matters. Hopefully. Asura shook his hand in discomfort. A man rushed past him and started cleaning up all the shattered components.

"I'm growing increasingly pissed off. Inform the men that I have decided to move up the date of the games from Friday to tomorrow." The man nodded and hurried out. Alone once again Asura removed his glove and scratched at the scar.

It had been hurting recently and he had absolutely no idea why. It did nothing to help lessen his annoyance. Something the interviewer had said made the flames in his eyes burn brighter than ever.

Death the Kid. Successor to Lord Death. Kid, the small black haired brat that was sitting in his prison. Kid, the one with whom he had undergone the **Invariabilem pignus. **The very same who he was unable to kill and the exact same who he wanted nothing but _to_ kill.

Death the Kid- his brother.

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"_Parents are sometimes a bit of a disappointment to their children. They don't fulfil the promise of their early years."_

_-Anthony Powell_

¤CM¤


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

'_The crowd roared like thunder in the sky before a particularly nasty storm. Voices cheered shouted and screamed in pleasure of other's pain. These games could be described as nothing less than Spartan._

_And we have to listen to it. All of it. From the cries of pure agony to the cries of mercy. Worst of all... this isn't even the main event. It's like a little start up to get the crowd roaring and alive._

_From down here in the dark, damned damp cells we were bequeathed the honour to hear all of this. We were given the oh so noble tribute to know what was awaiting us._

_For a deathly long time no screams came from above our heads (None but for the crowd). It is in these moments that we're able to hear our own hearts throbbing and the noise of our quickened breath._

_Absolute peace of mind was nothing but a myth in the time between the silence and the slaughter. The only thing on your mind before the guard came in was: 'Am I next'. Or 'What exactly happened to the person before me?'_

_Thoughts like that haunted you 'til the very moment you were dragged from your cage, nails bloodied in your attempt to grasp the ground and resist the murderous fate that awaited you beyond those damned darkening stairs..._'

Soul Eater Evans looked up, the sound of a heavy metal door being swung open striking him out of his depressed thoughts. Two fat men came clomping down the metal flight of steps. Soul noted their forms. Nothing had changed from the last time they had came it here: they were still bloodied... even more so now.

It had progressed like that since this morning when they had been ruthlessly awoken with _ice_ cold water: Their crisp white shirts had progressively became more crimson. And the demented look in their eyes had grown passed to point of insanity- now it only held the stare of a cruel monster that bathed in the scent of blood.

They moved down the row. They pulled open a cage door. And the screams of pleas began. Their laughter sounded demonic against the honest pleas of mercy. "No no no no, please! I'm sorry! I'll do anything! Just don't do this to me!"

Soul watched as they dragged the impossibly gaunt frame of a female away from her prison. Her pleas fell on deaf ears, so she turned to him. "Help me! Help me please! I didn't do anything wrong! HELP!"

He turned his head away in shame. Earlier in the day he would have stood up and shouted at the guards. But his spirit was broken. The finality of the heavy door slamming shut brought horror to the silence.

Soul pulled his sleeve over the black bruise on his arm and looked down. Nobody said anything for fear of them being next.

'_The sick psycho's beat the shit out of anyone who dares call them fat. And they don't seem to give us, or anyone, any food. Who knows how long the other's have been down here with no food, fearing for their lives?! _

_I think that even the gladiators lived under better circumstances than us... Kid looks terrible. Not in a sense of physical appearance, but rather in the way he is acting. We had been looking for him for days but none of us had expected to see him here._

_I can't put my finger on it, but he's changed somehow. Maybe it's that tattoo... or the way he had that crazed look in his eye. Or maybe it is that he's losing himself. He's losing his humanity and forgetting who he was._

_I know he needs us, but I don't think he's going to admit it. I don't even know if we'll survive and be able to help him.'_

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It was extremely dark, but Kid knew he was not alone. The crowd around him screamed and shouted and roared for more blood. But he wasn't doing this for them. He was doing this for himself. _He _needed to survive and _he _needed to stay in this gang.

Growling to his left. Kid turned in time to miss getting bitten in the arm. He stumbled over himself and almost crashed to the dark water below. The audience cheered. He couldn't see a damn thing... but his opponent could.

His golden eyes tried in vain to adjust to the darkness. He gripped his weapon tighter. His bloodied hands hurt and the warm blood was slickening the sword in his hand. If he loosed his grip on his only lifeline that damn monster will tear him to pieces...

_Screeeech. Clank. ThUm__p__. SPLASH!_

Kid knew that sound. Excellent. The growling faded away. And splashing signalled the beast's retreat. Kid started running and took another right turn. He was met with a dead end. '_Damnit_'. He backtracked and took a left instead. As long as he didn't go back there... again...

"AAAHHHHHHHH!"

Kid pressed himself against the wall. The screams got louder and the growling grew more pronounced. _'Damnit! I had hoped the new guy would at least last longer.' _Kid needed time to find the exit.

The maze didn't make it easy.

The cheering grew to a deafening roar. Above him. They must be above him. Kid listened closely. He could hear the faint thumping of metal and shoes. Somehow the gang members were able to see them from above, but the _'contestants'_ were unable to see a damn thing.

Kid already knew he was in an arena with water that ran ankle deep. He knew that it was a maze of some sort. And he knew that there were flesh eating things looking for their next victim to tear apart like a Mc Donald's happy meal. Oh... and that there were no more than two victims in the- _maze-cage? - _At a time.

The shouting didn't let up. The sickening sound of tearing flesh turned Kid's stomach. '_That could've been me just a second ago! I need to focus!' _ A drop of blood plopped into the water.

Kid pressed his hands into the water to wash them again. The black substance burned and stung, but he took the pain like a business man would take money. It was refreshing to let the sticky life essence wash away... and not just _**his**_ life essence.

What happens in the arena stays in the arena.

Kid moved again, as silently as possible in the streets of water. Various turns were taken, but most of them were dead ends. "FUCK!" Kid slammed his sword against the wall, causing a small spark.

He slammed his fists into the wall and leaned his sweaty forehead against the cool concrete. His headache was considerably worse. From above the waist he was burning up. And below he was freezing. The water soaked through his shoes and made him sick.

Water ripples hit against his pants. Kid hadn't even fully turned around before he was knocked into the water. The sword slipped out of his hand and disappeared into the dark depths of the murky water.

Water splashed into his eyes. He struggled to keep his head above water, but the more he struggled the more water filled his lungs. His chest was burning and begging for oxygen. The animal above him snapped its sharp teeth at him, aiming for his throat. Kid hit at it and evaded the deadly fangs by mere inches every time the muzzle came too close for comfort.

The cheering of the crowd above was muffled by the water now seeping into his ears. Kid kept the animal's neck from lowering with his forearm while his other hand was probing the wetness, looking for his lifeline.

He was slowly drowning and the beast above him was awaiting its feast. Breathing became near impossible. Kid's scuffling became weaker and he struggled to keep his eyes open underwater.

The thing bit into his arm. "FUCK!" its teeth sunk into his flesh and held on tightly. Adrenaline flushed through Kid's body. His fingers connected with the animal's jaw. _HARD_. Forgetting about his weapon momentarily he kicked and hit the furry fuck standing on top of him.

The creature didn't relent its attack. Another hit to the jaw and a kick to the gut. Kid's shouting was gargled and obscured by the water, but the message was clear: "Get off me, bitch!" Blood gushed into the water and the cold was slowly replaced with lukewarm. Death the Kid felt light headed. The animal howled. More splashing was heard. More howling. The crowd roared. Kid gasped for air. Short intervals allowed him to get precious amounts of lifesaving H2O.

Fangs bit into his legs. Teeth delved into his shoulder- his bad shoulder. Assaults from all three sides. "AAAAAHHHH!" More red spilled into the dark. Kid's screams echoed off the maze walls. Gang members above cheered and laughed. Their eyes pierced into the darkness with ease.

Kid knew he was giving them enough entertainment to last them... a few days... but he won't allow them to enjoy it for long! His hand searched with new vigour. His fingers graced the hardened ground beneath the wet pool. He would get out! He would-

"AH!" The animal on his arm started pulling its head from side to side, trying to get the chunk of flesh free. Copper filled Kid's senses. His eyes widened. Before darkening.

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Below the arena everyone could hear their friend's cries of anguish. They could hear his spluttering and struggles of survival. They heard him, and they could do nothing about it. They sat there, hearing the crowd's muffled cheering and the horrifying howls of the monsters they would soon face as well.

"Come on, Kid. If you dare die on us now I'm going to kill you in the afterlife." Liz muttered to herself and tried to block out the shouts of pain. She didn't want to hear them. "But if he's already dead in the afterlife wouldn't that mean that he would be double dead? Hey, big sis, is there an afterlife for the afterlife? What would happen if you die when you're already dead? I wonder if-"

"Shut up! Nobody cares about you and your stupid musings! Will you just shut up! We're all about to die and all you can go on about is stupid afterlife! When we die, we're dead! There's nothing waiting for us! Just stop being stupid!"

"Liz, just chill, okay? It won't help anything if you scream at her, just ignore her."

"What would you know?! We weren't the ones who got beat up! It's because of your big mouth that you got beat to a pulp and now you want to get into another one! Are you just so stupid that you don't even learn out of your mistakes?! I think it's high time that you and Patty grow up and stop being so childish!" Liz crumbled to the floor, sobbing softly, covering her face with her hands, ashamed and scared.

Soul looked away and pulled his sleeve down again. He pulled his legs into himself and stayed quietly in his corner, averting his eyes completely. Patty looked at them both in turn, still standing in the middle of her cage.

Her eyes were wide and her mind was confused. Had she just caused that? "Guys-"

"We'll all be better off if you just vanished, Patty." Liz whispered almost to herself after her crying had calmed down a little. Patty took a hurt step back. "You don't mean that, big sis! You're just sad that Kid is getting hurt and that we aren't there to help him."

Liz stood up suddenly and charged at her sister, who stood her ground.

"Kid was hurt before all of this began! He was hurt since the day he got expelled. We weren't there for him _then_! He was hurt even when we _were_ there and we _still_ couldn't do anything to help him! Kid was hurt since before we met him! We weren't there to help him _then_! What are we supposed to do?! This didn't just happen over night!'

"This happened to Kid as a result of years of abuse! Not physical, but emotional and mental abuse! His father ignored him! He treated Kid like he was an accident! Like he wasn't meant to be born! Physical abuse has scars that heal, but metal abuse- that pain you will forever feel, because emotional hurt cuts you where no salve or Band-Aid can be placed and fixed with a kiss!"

Liz moved back to her seat on the wooden bench. Patty stared. Water dripped down the stone walls. That was the only sound they heard. Even the crowd seemed to be silent. "Guys, I think something's wrong. It's been quiet up there for a while now." Maka put in timidly from the side.

Soul lifted his head. Together they listened. Stillness...

_Screeuch... clank... clunk...clank... clunk... thunk_

Soul whipped his head to the side. The two guards were back. They were laughing and nudging each other. They saw Soul looking. The one male jabbed the other with his elbow. Now they both stared at him. They grinned and stepped closer.

Soul tried not looking frightened, but his tightening muscles probably gave him away. They started laughing again. They unlocked his cage and the fatter of the two stepped in. Maka, Liz and patty stared in horror and held their breath. Maka resisted the urge to shout, but that was slowly failing her.

A fatty fist lifted Soul off the floor by the collar of his dirtied and torn shirt. He closed his eyes and turned his head away. The man's fist lifted heavily. Soul pulled in on himself.

"Leave him alone!"

Soul's eyes snapped open. The man's head whizzed around. Maka stood her ground, fists at her side, and an angry red on her cheeks. The fat man snarled, the second man then started laughing. Enraged the larger man punched Soul in the gut and let him fall to the floor.

"Who are _you _laughing at?!" The man all but yelled and stepped up to his comrade. Soul grunted on the floor and gripped his sore abdomen while curling in on himself. Maka's hands covered her mouth and she fell to her knees against the bars of her cell across from them.

"Nothing, just get them."

Grudgingly they slapped hand cuffs on _all_ of them and pushed them up the stairs. Soul gave no fight. Liz was tight lipped. Maka was shocked, angry and near hysterics. As for Patty... let's just say that she wasn't her usual happy self. They were lead along a short corridor before they were shoved down two small steps.

They landed in wetness. It was dark all around. The door behind then slammed shut. And they were stuck, struggling in a pile of bodies and broken spirits, with their wrists being chaffed by the cuffs. Soul was the first to notice the low hum of chatter above their head. And Patty was the one to proclaim that she heard feet above her head.

They struggled out of the small pile, legs untangling painfully and hair being pulled occasionally like they were in a preschool playground pulverisation session. They stood in the darkness, completely immobilized and disoriented. They couldn't see, their hands were tied and Soul could swear he heard soft shouting in the distance.

All their clothes were slightly wet and chilling them. Involuntarily they huddled together for warmth- their backs pressing together in a miniature back-to-back shield. Their feet, bare and hurting, were bruised and undeniably freezing. After a moment of terrifying silence Maka took charge and spoke; _slightly_ frightened.

"I say we choose a direction and go that way... do any of you know how to remove cuffs?"

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Death the Kid felt sick. He felt sick that he hadn't done this before. He felt sick of all the stuff he had to put up with. And he felt sick in a sense of wickedness. His gloved hand tightened around the hilt. His shoulders rose and fell heavily as he slowly regained his breathing. Blood splotches dotted his face, like a benevolent painter who finally finished with his final art.

The water that swallowed at his ankles was lukewarm and thicker than H2O was supposed to be. The mutilated remains of mutts lay at his feet, as still as a grave. Lifeless animal eyes gleamed at him. Kid merely snarled. Those stupid _things_ had ripped into his flesh and had nearly caused him to drown, so screw the people who believe these animals didn't deserve death.

Because heaven alone knows they did!

These beasts from hell deserved a much slower and much more painful death than he had handed them. They should be grateful he didn't prolong their suffering... In his view these monsters had gotten a much more merciful death than they would have gotten at the hands of Asura.

The sword in his hand trembled under the pressure; blood dripped down from his wound and joined the vermillion of his foes. Small scarlet drops dripped into the darkness with a near silent _plop_. The scent of crimson wallowed in the air and was dampened by the water path. One problem was removed, but many still remained. The maze. The gang. His friends...

His father...

The weapon nearly slipped from his hand, not from the slippery blood soaked gloves, but from pure misery and loss of what to do...

The scar...

Kid's knees felt weak. And he was exhausted. Physically, mentally and emotionally. The only thing he desired the most in the world right now... would be to take it all back and start again. To get a second chance. And to do it all. Over. Again.

He dropped to his knees, letting the water soak his pants completely. Arms, emaciated and bloodied, dangled to his sides, sword still griped between his bony fingers. Lungs struggled to get in the needed amount of air and his mouth hung open lazily as he attempted to pull in the much needed oxygen.

Kid was faintly aware of water shifting around him and ripples hitting his lower back. Something must be heading his way. Tired eyes turned ever so slowly in his skull to inspect the approaching danger. Slim black brows knotted together.

It was too dark to see anything. Kid heard the clinking and rattling of chains. Were they sending in different animals? Was Asura sending in a new wave of monsters with sharper teeth, faster legs and madder eyes? Were these dead creatures at his feet just the beginning of a monstrous death?

When would it end? When will this madness stop and just leave him be? Kid snarled. He was sick of all this bullshit! His fingers tightened and he shot up. His weak legs rushed forward. His tired lungs and battered arms tightened for the strike. Red eyes flashed in Kid's mind.

Monsters. Animals. Creatures. Beasts. Must kill.

Blind fury caused Kid to fall to his knees and hack away at the figure in front of him. He stroke and chopped and cut and stabbed until the familiar tang of blood could be tasted on his tongue. Even after the figure's thrashing had long gone silent along with its screams of horror, pain and _agony_ did Kid still not stop.

Blinded, was he, with his inner turmoil and utter need to _survive_ that he took no notice of the crowd cheering above or the crying below. Hot salt dripped from his eyes. Fear consumed him. He wasn't crying out of any particular emotion. Actually, Kid really had no idea why the warm water chose to walk trails down his smooth skin.

He had no idea why his hand wouldn't stop swinging and he had absolutely no idea why he was enjoying the sucking noise the body below him made every time the steel was removed from the mashed-turned body.

A warm hand was placed on his shoulder. Kid jerked, the weapon disappearing into the water. Arms captured him and restrained him. Kid thrashed wildly. Screaming escaped his mouth. "No! Don't touch me! Don't touch me! Get off me you monsters! NO!" His arms were pinned to his side and his feet were denied of their need to push up.

Kid threw his head back. "NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

His mind was clouded, confused and cornered. He was trapped and he had nowhere to go. There was no one to help him and he was scarred. Scarred and all alone in a dark place with no light to guide him. His shoulders slumped and all the fight left his body. His lungs were tired of crying. They were tired of falling on deaf ears and receiving no answer.

Kid's body was beaten, bruised and broken. And his soul was completely consumed with inner turmoil. He was tired of resisting...so he just- _gave up_. Wheezing sobs rattled his thin frame. _'Why am I crying?!'_

Sudden light flooded his pupils and made Kid cringe back. Eyes closing and head thrashing to the side to shield the beams from his eyes. Noise pooled all around him and made his ears ring. The pressure on his shoulders intensified and made him cry out. His golden eyes fluttered timidly and were greeted with light that was slightly less attacking.

Oh no.

Kid's gaze rested on the body laying in the water, slowly soaking it a red darker than black. Red lifeless eyes stared up at him. Death the Kid threw his head to the side and heaved. His stomach had no contents. He dry heaved until he was sure he would barf out his lungs.

The hands around his shoulders held him up and were practically the only thing keeping him from tumbling into the water. His body felt limp and boneless. Those steadying hands roughly pulled him up. He heard voices entering his ear, but the words didn't register.

He couldn't stop staring at the viciously mutilated body. Those warm _warm_ hands shook his shoulders and tried to ground him. Tried to bring him back. Kid couldn't find it in himself to let them.

Suddenly those comforting hands were ripped from his shoulders. Shouts followed. Kid fell to his knees. Water rocketed up. Blood, black and transparent spilled onto his face. His hand fell at his sides. Rushing to him were masses of people who clapped him on the shoulder with shouts of glee and congratulations.

He only stared with dull, _**glassy**_ eyes at what he had done.

Feeling sick and wanting to heave again Kid closed his eyes. Then opened them. He had to face what he had done. He can't avoid it and he can't ignore it. He did this. He caused this and he was the reason for all this blood. So much blood.

No. No no no! Oh g**.

Hands gripped him under his armpits. Kid stared at the mutilated corpse as he was slowly lifted and removed from the arena by the cheering men and women. Slowly dispersing and slowly vanishing. Kid saw the glimpse of those bloody beasts with he fangs and claws crawl around the corner and close in on the corpse.

They were still present. And they were still hungry.

Rage filled Kid, but couldn't work its way past his frozen shock. Tendrils of ice, so cold and paralyzing, seeped into his soiled veins. He had murdered his friend. And they congratulated him for doing so.

Soul Eater Evans, with those monster-resembling red eyes, was ripped to pieces by his friend. And it was all his monstrous maddening fault. Kid was pulled through huge stone pillars and shoulder carried by the crowd up the stairs. Shitehawk stood with his arms crossed and leaning against a pillar and stared at the cheering crowd. Forlorn was etched onto his face.

Step one to breaking Kid's spirit was complete. And he knew that this was only the beginning. He knew what would happen to his remaining friends. It wasn't a burden that he wanted to carry. Shitehawk shook his head and pushed off; stepping up the cold stairs. The look Kid's friends had when those lights turned on and they saw who it was who slaughtered their friend...

The forgiveness they had in their eyes and the helping hands they had reached out to him... None of this was seen by Kid. And he didn't have the chance to see them either. Damn Asura and his demonic, monstrous ways of mind- f****** with everyone.

They were all so young... and now they were going to land in the hands of Medusa. These steps seemed to weigh more on his lean legs. They all went through it. Every gang member. Some were changed permanently. Some so broken they had lost the will to live... others had given themselves up to madness.

Some were even driven to suicide.

Shitehawk hoped Kid wasn't one of them. He hoped that Kid was stronger. And, despite himself, he hoped Kid _would_ take over leadership of this gang. Hopefully then... things would change.

For better, or for worse.

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Frozen to the spot and staring at the floor. Filth and disgusting stuff stuck there like a fan girl on Justin Bieber's ass. Dark eyes blinked. Then shifted. It now stared to the object lying on the table and found an internal struggle whether or not to do it.

Eyes shifted _again_ over to the fridge. "To be or not to be." Black Star's stomach growled. "To be." He decided. He bounced up and ran over to the ice box. Only to be grabbed by the shirt and be pulled down onto his bum harshly. "OW!"

"Not to be." Ox said frustrated, and clamped his hand around his pen. "This is the seventh time you tried the same trick and I am still not falling for it. It's already bad enough that I have to work in your apartment-" Ox looked around at the abandoned take out trays and scattered pieces of food and... other things...

"-But now I have to put up with your laziness as well."

"The GREAT BLACK STAR is NEVER lazy! He just needs fuel to continue with his awesomeness!" Ox picked up the paper the other male has been working on for over an hour and found himself growing an angry tic on his forehead. In the corner there was a crudely drawn picture of him with an arrow pointing the words 'StUPid dumb dumb'.

For the sake of both their survival Ox ignored it and moved on to what Black Star had written. He felt his eye twitch annoyingly. "You call this awesomeness: _**'Since the beginning of the planet and maybe the universe as well, everyone was useless and didn't know what to do. But then came THE GREAT BLACK STAR to save them from stupidness. So when they saw him they all died, because his awesomeness was too much for them to take. Then THE GREAT BLACKSTAR went on a mission to save them.**_

_**But there were zombies who wanted to stop him. And there were also stupid scientists who don't know what's best for THE GREAT BLACK STAR. But THE GREAT BLACK STAR stopped the dumb professor with his MIGHTY POWERS OF AWESOMENESS and they all lived happily ever after. HASHTAG the end.'**__"_

Black Star had his chest puffed up and looked mighty proud of himself. Ox wanted to slap his forehead. "Do you even remember what professor Stein told us to write the essay about?"

"Nope. But that doesn't matter! When he sees this essay he'll be shocked by the beauty of it and let me sleep in the class for the rest of the year!" Ox face palmed.

'_He'll be shocked alright.' _

"Maybe you _do_ need food to get your brain working again." Black Star was up and gone in a second with a loud proclamation of 'YAHOO!'. "Just make sure you eat _a lot_." Ox shook his head and went back to work. He still had a lot of words to finish before he could recheck his work.

He needed this to be flawless. He didn't want to fail the course and he didn't want to come in second- right behind Maka. The pen froze mid-scribble. He just realized something. Ox's face paled. "Black Star!"He shouted and stood up- dropping the pen to the table and sending the chair to the floor. "If you eat the last pudding cup you're dead!"

By the time he got in the kitchen Black Star already had a spoon in his mouth and a half eaten chocolate cup in his hand. They stood frozen. The spoon dangled on Black Star's lip, fell out and clattered to the ground.

Ox jumped into action and tackled the blue haired boy to the floor.

Pudding splashed onto the wall, joining the various other stains that had been accumulated there over the course of their working session...

Tsubaki would be having a hard time cleaning _that _out of the wall.

"I told you that was _my _pudding cup!"

"Someone as great as I don't have to listen to ANYONE!"

"Listen to my fist!"

"Fists can't talk, STUPID! I, THE GREAT BLACK-"

_**WHACK**_!

That had been a long time coming. Now the great Black Star, had a great black eye. Ox stood victoriously above the boy with a flashing smile. Black Star lifted his foot. Ox went crossed-eye. He doubled over- hands covering his _**tools**_. He crumbled to the floor. "NOBODY HITS THE GREAT BLACK STAR AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!"

So now the pair lay on the kitchen floor, covering an eye ball... and another type of ball... tending to the pain of their less than friendly scuttle. "You should put some ice onto that." Came a female voice, sometime later.

Tsubaki shook her head in disapproval. She had been gone for less than ten minutes to run to the grocery store and back. Ox looked up at her pleadingly. She couldn't help but smile. She reached into the plastic bag and removed a carton of pudding cups.

"There are only four in a box and there are three of us." The two boys looked at each other again and a new fire lit in their eyes.

Damn it.

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'_Visions born of fear give birth to our failing. Visions born of hope give birth to our success. What is possible lives within us, and it only remains for us to discover it.'_

_-Terry Brooks_

¤CM¤


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

When he arrived, everyone stopped talking. The apparel on his body was strange and the life behind his eyes was like something Linkin Park would sing about.

His shoulders were squared with head held high. His strides were long and smooth and his hands clothed in sleek black gloves. People parted like grass in the wind as he swept passed them and strode up front.

Haughty eyes looked down on him in jealousy and sneered silently when he passed much too close for their comfort.

The lights were dimmed and drowned the room in black.

Once up front Kid took his stance. He clasped his hands behind his back and awaited further instructions. Asura grinned.

"I thank you for your performance yesterday, it was quite... _**entertaining**_."

Kid said nothing; he just stood there with a stoic look marring his features. Asura scoffed; he expected nothing less.

"After all that happed I still hadn't expected that you would take the life of your FRIEND; at the most I expected a severed limb, but I still thank you for the show."

Kid still stood motionless and limp.

"I am also pleased to inform you of where your ex- 'friends' are now..." Asura smiled at the given reaction...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Deep in the dark dank lair of the evil snake bitch, hidden with cold stone and concealed with a sister's web of lies. Tied with chains and bloodied with blades lay the abused bodies of three females.

Maka coughed. Liz and Patty looked over at her. "Maka, are you sure you're fine? You've been coughing up blood since-"

"Yeah, I'm fine, okay!" She smiled vainly. "I'm fine, my chest just hurts a little, nothing to worry about, Liz, I promise, you too Patty." Liz frowned, but said nothing, if not for herself, but for her sister.

Liz knew Maka was lying. The gravity of her wound is much worse than the stubborn meister would ever admit. It would be a miracle of she made it through the night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"YOU DID _**WHAT**_?!"

Kid lunged at Asura. The crowd of gang members grabbed at every flailing limb of the young shinigami. They were having as much trouble holding him back as Asura was trying to hold in his laughter.

"Don't pretend that you _care_, young one. We all know that you'll do worse to them, given the opportunity, than Medusa ever could."

Kid's struggling fell limp like a house of cards blown over by a slight draft. His eyes glazed over and dulled like over-washed jeans. Asura snickered and sneered. "Would you like to visit them? I'm sure they have a _lot_ of unanswered questions."

Kid's eyes shifted to the floor. The hands holding him left and the boy slumped over, his knees barely keeping him standing.

"No? Well, that's a shame. In that case you can leave. Congratulations, Kid, you are publicly part of the gang. Make sure you don't screw up."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**ICE:**

Frozen fractals fall apart

They fall upon a frozen heart

Broken and shattered on the ground

True love, true happiness cannot be found

The blistering storm deep within

Is filled with fear, filled with sin

Creeping cold crawls to door

Ignorance's knock can't be ignored

Icy indifference shows its face

Reigning ruler of this place

It steals compassion, steals the heat

And leaves you lying in cold defeat

Cold, cold walls creeping closer

Threatening to overdose him

Overpowering the beholder

Showing it the hoarfrost shoulder

Let love leave and let hate stay

Do, beg do, let the heat go away

-¤CM¤

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kid lay on the floor of his dorm. A hood covered over his face and left him lying in shadows. His side ached from being spread onto the ice cold concrete for such an agonisingly long amount of time.

His hand clenched an unclenched around the small translucent vial in his hand. Asura had given it to him after the party had kick started and grew into a sex filled pile of smut and... Body fluids... eew.

He had left as quickly as the blockade of _**active**_ bodies had allowed. Kid wanted nothing to do with the dirtied slums of gang members. He just wanted away. He wanted silence. He wanted his mind to stop screaming at him, telling him that he's worthless and useless and less than the man he used to be.

He wanted the voices to go away. He wanted the demons to leave him. He wanted to mourn in silence. He wanted to be alone. Isolated. Alone.

Kid's dark eyes drifted to the vial for the third time in the last three minutes.

Even considering the act left him disgusted.

So he shifted his gaze and stared at his bed. It was filthy and ugly and crumpled and... Not symmetrical. Closing his eyes, Kid removed the thoughts of what he had abandoned. Symmetry wasn't important. Nothing was important. Not at all.

The vial weighed heavily in Kid's hand. The clear fluid glinted in the darkness and winked at him. Unsteady hands reached up. His hands shook as he slowly uncapped the small holder. '**p**o**p**'. A small wisp of smoke drifted into the air like a cloud of poisonous gas. The smell reached Kid's nose. He closed his eyes. Breathed in deep.

Then snapped his eyes open. And downed the whole vial.

Manic laughter echoed through the labyrinth of corridors and empty hallways. The sound bounced off a wall like an overactive kindergartener... scratch that... the sound bounced off the walls like Patty when given sugar.

Kid's door exploded open; the metal hinges creaked under the heavy impact. Kid smiled a demented tooth grinning smile, the hood fallen over his shoulders. Uncut hair draped over his forehead like a bride's veil.

His lips curled open. "Hash tag- madness. #madness. Madness!"

Kid ran down the corridor and flew up the stairs- making a beeline for the mess- hall; where all the _fun _and _excitement_ was breeding.

On the floor in Kid's empty room, the small vial rolled and scratched its glass face on the rough ground, crying a single drop of Madness.

#######################################################################

**Horrors of humanity**

There are horrors in this world

That I will never understand

There are things people ask of

Me and they come as demands

They expect loyalty and they

Expect trust

These things are never choices

They are always a must.

They do things to me that

Can never be undone

So with my finger on the trigger

I take a drink from my gun.

This noise in the world

Drowns me to death

I try to hold out

But take my final breath.

The horrors we see

Are naked and bare

Of the nightmares we live

We can all declare

I try to hide

In a small dark place

With ignorance as an inmate

And a bottle of Mace

But in a world full of horrors

There is nowhere to hide

The darkness creeps slowly

And fills me inside

Slowly it eats at the good

In us all

Until one day we'll crumble

And silently fall

Monsters I make

Are being fed

With the horrors I

Make inside of my head

They shout and they scream

And do what they want

The dirty demon bastards

Are on the hunt!

With horrors in hand

And fear at foot

The path of destruction

Is the one I took

With crumbled courage and cracked hope

I take a step into black

And get devoured by death

The horrors of humanity hide behind my back

BANG! BANG! BANG!

-¤CM¤

#############################################################################

It all came crashing down. The first glass Kid had was fine, but after the fifth Kid began doing things. Things he would never have done before. While his mind told him he couldn't dance, Vodka decided differently.

Every second move he would make would end up with him doing a Jersey shore fall down to the floor. But his intoxicated mind kept telling him he was dynamite... just wait for the explosion...

Asura smiled down from his gambling table (his chips stacked high) and sent his brother privy grins. Finally he had the boy just where he wanted him. Death the Kid was having the time of his life and he had some plans for him.

"NO!"

And there was the explosion. Kid shoved the woman away from him and zipped up his pants. Hands glided over his tawny frame, which sent shivers up and down Kid's spine. He shoved the woman away again- a little too hard. "I'm not interested; keep your slutty hands to yourself!"

His mindless anger led Kid to kick over chairs and throw over tables. Beer bottles fell off the surface and shattered on the floor, dragging shards into flesh and drawing out red. Asura's grin grew. He waved his hand at the women, who nodded and dispersed into the darkness at their master's order.

'_Well that plan didn't work.'_

A small vial flew into the air; Kid grabbed it, throwing a glance into Asura's direction. The, man smiled warmly at the boy. No time was wasted between the uncapping of the vial and the consumption of the liquid.

The world twisted into blurs of music and blasts of light. Kid's body heated up and he felt euphoria flood through his veins. When the night was at it full, darkness, dancing and drinking was all that was in control of Kid's body.

Soon it became too much for him so he left the pit of pleasure to return to his hole of darkness. Kid stumbled into his lair hotter and sweatier than he had thought he would. That was when the trembling began.

And his craving grew.

Kid fumbled with his clothes. He struggled more than ever before to just simply getting the buttons undone. The shirt seemed to cling to his sweaty body and his dress pant stuck to him like a love struck fan girl on an imagined character.

It felt uncomfortable against his skin.

Finally pulling himself free from the confines of clothes, Kid decided to sleep in his boxers. His skinny frame didn't even take up the entire bed. His shoulder was glaring an angry red where a small healing wound indicated the bullet hole. Bandages covered the wounds from where Asura's bloody hounds had bloodied his body and bitten craters into his skin.

Trembles wracked his tawny frame. They shook him from head to toe, shivers that had no end flared through his body. Kid curled up and tucked his knees under his chin. He squeezed his eyes shut and willed the cold to _go away!_

Kid crawled under the covers and tugged his body in between the thin material. He covered his head and hid himself under the unfulfilling warmth of his blankets. Soon the material began vibrating as much as him. Kid felt like he had swallowed a vibrator: the pleasure still lingered, but the vibrations were killing him!

The cravings increased and all Kid could think about was how much he wanted that transparent liquid. All he could think about was how much he _needed_ to have that small vial and drown him in the euphoria it caused,

He wanted more. He needed more. He _craved_ more. More. MORE. **MORE!**

The teenage body twisted and turned under the covers, all his mind could think about was how much he wanted Madness. He needed it to take away the pain he was feeling inside. He needed it to drown his sorrows and make him _**forget**_. Even if it was only temporarily.

Kid threw back the covers. There was only one person who could dethrone his everlasting ever-growing need for the powerful poison that tastes _so _wonderful. There was only one person who had the power to give it to him. There was only one person who he could persuade to hand another vial over to him.

Kid's feet padded onto the floor.

#############################################################################

**1 year later**

"Your hair's gotten longer."

"I'm still not going to cut it, how many times do I have to repeat myself."

"You also look sick and your skin is paler."

"You already told me that, remember."

Kid sat down against the cage. His back dug into the metal painfully. "Oh yeah..." Liz muttered. Kid played with the clips on his gloves and kept his gaze down. His bangs just barely touched his eyes, but the rest of his black head had gotten scruffier and was hell bent on bending every which way.

"Your hair's gotten longer." Kid sighed. "I know, Liz, maybe you should cut it for me." Kid lifted his gaze up and stared at the girl who sat huddled in the corner to his right. Her gaze was on him, but her eyes were blank and her focus seemed to be dwindling.

"You look pale, Kid, maybe you should get some sunshine. Why are your eyes so dark? Are you getting sick?" He smiled gingerly and shook his head. "No, Liz, I'm not sick, just tired."

"Why are you tired? Is Patty keeping you up at night? I haven't seen Patty in a while, Kid; I thought maybe you had her. I thought maybe you saved her. Patty had been hurting a lot, Kid, I thought you had taken her and taken her pain away... pain... pain... fear..."

Liz rocked back and forth, her hands gripping her knees 'til her knuckles turned white. The litany of words spilled out of her mouth. Kid closed his eyes. This is the third time he's visited her in six months. She hasn't once stopped inquiring about her sister.

Kid didn't have the heart to tell her. He knew it was for her own good; not to know what happened to her sibling. He was sure her mind would become even more lost. Kid tugged at his gloves and removed his gaze from the rocking girl.

She was the last remaining survivor.

And it was his entire fault.

"I'm sorry, Liz, I don't know where Patty is." Half a lie isn't considered truth at all. "Kid, why is your hair so long?" Kid shot up from the ground, startling Liz. "Because I am too damn useless to fix it! I can't even go one day without that damn drug before I go crazy with need! I can't even sleep properly thanks to all the crap I've caused!"

Kid sat back down. "I couldn't even protect you guys. This is my entire fault and Father was right. I am evil. I'm the one who needs to belong in that cage, not you, you did nothing wrong. You weren't the one who killed all those people, you weren't the one who murdered your friend and you weren't the one who destroyed everyone's world just because of some petty revenge plot."

"It's okay, Kid, don't be sad, I'm here for you." Liz crawled over to him and laid her hand on his shoulder. Kid recoiled at her soft touch, like he was burned, and butt-shifted away from the bars. Bewildered eyes stared at her.

"I'm sorry, Liz, I'm sorry, but... I can't make any promises."

Liz tipped her head to the side like a confused puppy. "Kid, why are you shaking? Are you cold? Are you shaking because you feel sick?" He looked down at his trembling hands in horror. "No, no, please no. I don't want it anymore! I don't want Madness anymore!"

As his vibrating grew more pronounced Liz backed away, afraid, and sweat broke out across Kid's forehead. "I... I have to go, I'm sorry, Liz, I'll come back tomorrow, I swear." With those words in ear Kid left his only remaining friend in the darkness far below the nest of crime, and made a one way walk straight for Asura's room.

Liz looked at him sadly as he ran away. And knew that he would never return.

#######################################################################

Lord death stood before what remained of his once strong army. He looked at them one by one; took a deep breath.

"Time for playing is over. We need to get serious here and we need a solution. There is no doubt in my mind that Asura is toying with us, he was always like that. I am not sure how long this will continue but I know with certainty that it won't end soon. Asura will continue with his playing until he gets bored and that's when he'll strike,

"And I want all of you to be ready. All of you will be separated into groups and prepared for the showdown that is inevitable. As for the rest of you, I want you to stay behind."

Strips of cloth were handed to the remaining Meisters and weapons, each cloth had a certain colour and once everything was handed out the people dispersed into their groups and left the Death room.

There were only two remaining people.

Quiet filled the room as Lord Death took his time to prepare what he had to say. They waited, slightly impatient. "For the two of you I have a very special job."

Athazagoraphobia:

n. The fear of forgetting, being forgotten or ignored, or being replaced.

!

IMPORTANT! ©AzureSynergy. The poems: "Ice" and "Horrors of humanity" are copyrighted works _© 2015-2017 AzureSynergy. _All rights reserved. My work may not be reproduced, copied, edited, published, transmitted or uploaded in any way without my written permission. My work does not belong to the public domain. If you doubt this, feel free to PM me: AzureSynergy

!

¤CM¤


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

**5 Years later**

Strong, pale, feet padded onto the floor. The soft red carpet seeped in between his toes and brought warmth to his shaking form. Kid didn't even bother pulling on a shirt. He was in a hurry. He had to get to Asura as quickly as possible.

Trembling hands gripped the door handle. Instinct led him down twisting halls and winding corridors. The familiar path led him to the well-known wooden door. Kid knocked once before shoving the door open with ease and stumbled through.

Asura looked up. His hands stopped playing with his knife. His eyes slid over the well-toned chest of Death the Kid. He was expecting to see the strong structure of the male. He was waiting for him. His eyes came to a rest on Kid's hair.

The black tresses landed softly over the dark shadows under Kid's face. His hair was bedraggled. His eyes looked like sores. The young man was standing in nothing but his boxers. His toned chest rose and fell and shook with shivers.

"You should cut your hair; you're starting to look like a hobo."

"Cut the crap and give it to me!"

"Careful. Don't bite the hand that feeds you. I might just leave you to shake and shiver in a pile of your own drool."

Kid's head shot up, his hair weaving to the side before resting on his forehead. Fear filled his golden eyes. "NO!" Kid ran over to the desk and collapsed to his knees. "Please don't! I need it!"

Asura got up and rounded the desk; Kid latched onto his feet instantly, eyes pleading with desperate need. Asura crouched down to meet his gaze with a sickly sweet smile. "Are you sure you _need_ it? I've seen people _needing _Madness, Kid, but you're different. You behave differently that the rest. I'm not even sure you really mean what you're saying." Kid shook his head wildly, hair swaying this way and that.

"No, no, no! I need it! Please! I'm sorry! I won't do it again I promise! I won't raise my voice to you again! I swear! Just please don't cut me off! I'll die faster that fat people on a hunger strike!"

Asura pulled his feet away and walked behind his desk. He removed a key from his breast pocket. "Well, I suppose if you do something about your hair, take a shower, clean yourself up AND DO YOUR JOB, then I might be persuaded to give you _something._"

Kid looked bewildered as Asura unlocked a drawer.

"You heard about-"

"Of course I've heard about the fall out with the authorities! It didn't even happen a block away from HQ! If you're not careful next time I'm going to feed you to the dogs!"

"NO!"

"YES! So make sure that there are no fucking cops following you! Those bastards are closing in on us and I have no intention of returning to a rotting cell!"

"I promise! I promise they won't follow us again! I swear! Please..."

Asura released his grip on the vial and tossed it to Kid, who caught it expertly. Kid swallowed the contents before Asura could even crack a grin. "How pathetic you've become." The gang leader sat down gracefully and watched as his brother crumpled boneless to the floor. Kid's eyes dilated and he started laughing softly to himself.

"Get your carcass out of my room; I've got revenge to **execute**."

Kid got onto wobbly legs while laughing stupidly. He walked over to the exit with legs that moved like jelly in the hot sun. His black head cocked to the side, his calves pulled taught and his lithe muscles made themselves known.

"What do you mean 'revenge'?"

"Of course, I forgot that you've forgotten."

Kid frowned. Asura rolled his eyes. "After five years my plans are finally ready to be put into place. After my next attack there will be nothing left of Death City and their new rulers than a pile of rubble. My bombs are in place and my men are all ready. Now shoo... shoo." Another vial reached Kid's strong hands. "Run along, little scamper."

Kid looked at the vial in his hand, frowning deeply. Through the fog in his mind he knew that what he was doing was wrong, but he didn't know why.

The door closed softly behind him while he still looked down at the tiny glass bottle in his hand. Wasn't there something he was forgetting? Wasn't there something incredibly important he was supposed to do?

"What am I forgetting?"

#######################################################################

Kid lay on his bed. The vial resting in his open palm. His jacket pulled around his neck, suffocating him slightly. He didn't like the feeling of something restricting around his neck. It felt like something that belongs in 50 Shades of Grey. And no, he doesn't mean in an erotic way.

"I'm missing something. What am I missing?"

He had been lying in this position for quite a while. Kid's face scrunched up. His nose breathed in. The young adult frowned. What smelled like burning flesh? Quickly he sat up, his hoody going lax around his shoulders. Radiant sun coloured eyes glided over the slit under his door.

Shadows danced and flapped beneath the metal and red quickly illuminated his vermillion carpet. Eyes narrowing, Kid jumped out of bed and ran over to his wardrobe. _'Finally! A bit of action! It's not every day that the alarm goes off.' _Slamming open the double doors he traded his flimsy hoody with his proper jacket and hood.

He pulled on a striped shirt with two polished perfection buttons. Kid's hands hovered over his pistols. The 9mm calibre Chrome steel casing winked up at him. Almost hesitantly, Kid slid the two pistols into his arm-holsters, two more guns into the holsters on his hips, a string of bullets was hooked onto his belt and a push dagger was also placed on the black leather band

Kid lifted his SOG Seal Knife 2000 from its foam holster and let it glint in the light. Asura had given it as a gift to him. The man had said it was the knife with which he was going to cut out his tongue, but Kid had replied: "It's the knife I'm going to end _**his**_ life with."

He could no longer remember who _he_ had been. Probably someone important if he had bothered to remember something so _trivial_. Kid pressed the steel under his black jean into the leg strap and rolled the material over to conceal the weapon.

With a shaking hand, Kid took a black leather ream, short and thin, and pulled back the dark tresses of hair. There was enough of the silky smooth hair to make a wolf-tail in the nape of his neck. "At least now Asura would be off my ass!"

Lastly, and with the finality of a death sentence, Kid pulled the hood over his head. A deadly smile crept onto his lips. The shockingly dark tattoos pulled with the twist of his grin. "Let's kill tonight."

Kid leapt out of his room and pressed himself against the wall. The alarm wailed and red light danced among the ceiling. Shouting was heard somewhere along the corridors. Kid pulled one of his Chrome's from the holster. He pulled back the hammer.

His head peeked around the corner and saw gang members running frantically_\- 'probably to where all the action is'_. One of the fleeing men fell to the ground. "AH!" A knife stuck out of his back and blood quickly seeped into his clothes. His weapon slid away and his breathing came to a halt. _'Or they could be running away from where all the action is.'_

A large man, covered in a mask and army-like clothing, ran up to him and removed the knife. "All clear! Move on!" More people ran passed him with weapons in hand. Kid wasn't impressed at all, maybe a little shocked, but he didn't show it in any way whatsoever.

The man running from the scene was his once-upon-a-time PE teacher: Sid, or Sid the Zombie (a nickname he got because he worked his students half to death on the track.) There was an excellent example of why the DWMA was so messed up.

'_Wait... what is the _DWMA_? And how do I know what the dude's name is?'_ Kid shook his head and focussed. They had just murdered one of his fellow gang members and he won't stand for that!

'_I bet their blood would be a nice addition to our halls. I was meaning to put some colour to it! Now I don't even have to go out and steal paint! Perfect!'_ Kid's smile grew. Checking that the chamber was loaded; the young adult emerged from his place and fired three consecutive shots; each one landing neatly between the eyes of the moving invaders.

"Take cover!" The man, Kid thought was named Sid, ordered. Lucky for him, his enemies were too slow and he was able to take three more out effortlessly. Skilfully, Kid reloaded his magazine in a flash that would put Oscar Pistorius to shame... well... more shame.

Six bodies already lay motionless at his feet and the battle had just begun. "Wow, I'm getting slower. But I blame that on Madness and not enough practice. Usually by now I would have already emptied two magazines and a dozen bodies would be bowing by my feet; barfing up blood."

"I'm not going to let you live, not after you killed all my troops, that's not the kind of man I am." Kid walked steadily, his black boots clicked off the ground, his head held down and his gun held tight.

He stepped around the corner. Sid launched at him with the knife. Kid dogged expertly and flipped to the side. Sid growled lowly. Kid's eyes widened. _'Growling. Biting. Pain.'_ Death the Kid yelled angrily, his eyes shining with madness. He pulled back the hammer on his gun and aimed it at Sid.

He fired shots, but the fucking man dodged them with the skills of a fantasy character. It only agitated Kid even more. He reloaded an in that moment Sid charged. He tackled Kid to the ground, knife firmly grasped in his hand.

The hood fell off and revealed Kid's maddened face. Sid froze in his spot from shock, his mouth hung open. Kid said nothing; he just stared at the man with blank eyes. "Good bye, Sid."

"You're alive. She said you died, she said you got lost in the maze and that you're gone." He sounded in shock. All the fight left him as he simply froze in position. Kid halted. "I have no idea what you mean, but you won't be alive anytime soon." Those words forced Sid back into action.

He pushed off Kid and dodged a bullet in the nick of time. Kid rolled over his back and gracefully got back on his feet. He lifted the muzzle and fired three consecutive shots. One missed, but the other two got a perfect home nestled between the man's reddening flesh.

"Goodbye, Sid, thanks for the memories."

Kid put new bullets into his gun, pulled back the hammer and aimed it at the ex-PE teacher's head. "I'm just glad I gave you a _run _for your money." Three bullets imbedded themselves into the man's skull.

"You won't be rising from the dead like that injudicious reporter." With a final pulling back of the hammer, Kid ran down the corridor to join the real action upstairs where are the shouting was coming from.

Blood gained from those few bodies wasn't entertaining enough, and he was _killing_ for some action. He hadn't had anything to do for quite a while now and tonight was finally his chance. Tonight he would show Asura what he was capable of and he would show Asura that he wasn't as useless as the man made him out to be.

He could still shoot to kill.

##############################################################################

"This is where our Intel leads us. Each of you know your objectives, don't stray from them. Asura in priority level 1, everything else is less than important!" Stein turned the screw on his head as he watched his now grown up class of Meisters.

They were battle ready warriors with weapons blazing and experience seeping from their pores. Hopefully that experience will help them today. Asura's gang was notorious for a reason. "Blackstar, is your squad ready?"

Said male looked up from where he busied himself checking over his weapons. His attire looked of that of an assassin. His mouth was covered up, his hair was barely sticking out of a bandana and his clothes were a sleek black and silvery white. He nodded without a word, and then disappeared instantly, his team mates following shortly behind with weapons grasped in hand.

"It's good that you're serious, Blackstar, but letting go once in a while isn't a bad thing."

"It is when you're trying to win a war." A strong voice said beside Stein's ear. The man didn't even bother turning his head; he knew that by the time he did the assassin would be gone without a trace.

"I suppose that's true. Death scythe, you're always at Lord Death's side, does that mean he's somewhere around here? We've sent in our first squad about ten minutes ago and we've still received no word. Meaning we could use his help. As soon as squad two breaches to lower level of the warehouse you two'll have to go and take down Asura while my troops-"

"Will you just chill? I already suffered through the briefing earlier, I'm in no mood to view the plan... _again_."

"We can't afford any screw ups, scythe. I know you; we've been partners before-"

"I'm not the same man you knew back then. Things have changed since..."

Stein stumped his cigarette under his shoe. "Yeah, I know." He pushed his glasses up and stared as the second wave, Blackstar's troops, entered the building stealthily. Everything was riding on him taking out as many men without causing permanent damage as silently as possible.

That way when Lord Death entered to defeat the leader his path will be clear and distractions will be at a minimal. Silent, but violent. Stealthy and deadly. Death scythe wasn't the only one who had changed since that day...

"How much time before we move?" Stein looked at the red headed man. "Not much time remaining. Get ready." The other man nodded. There was a flash of light, screaming permeated the air. And the next thing the two men knew they were on the ground.

Smoke inhabited the air like a blanket that suffocated and asphyxiated you. The extremely dark puffs clouded everyone's vision and left them blind in daylight. Stein was the first to recover. He stood up and surveyed the surroundings.

Rubble littered the ground and flames licked at scattered bodies and shards of melting glass. People groaned, but Stein ignored them and searched for the source of the explosion that shook the earth like a fat person did when hitting the ground.

His glasses fogged up and it made seeing near impossible. His lungs, used to smoke, wasn't bothered at all by the heavy wall of black poison, but once he heard scythe coughing at his feet he abandoned his task to assist the man.

He helped him up and held him by the shoulders. "You okay? Did anything hit you? Do you need to go to my lab?"

"NO! I'm right as rain!" He waved the man's question away nervously. "What caused that explosion?" He asked and sobered up immediately, scanning the aftermath.

A soft roaring from above drew their attention. The smoke parted like water in wind and drifted to all sides. Gusts of air hit their soot covered faces and they blocked their eyes from the ashes swarming into their vision.

"Report."

"Lord Death! Where were you? You should have been here at least half an hour ago! Most of our troops haven't returned yet and we've received no news, I fear that they've been killed. That topped with the explosion that came out of nowhere..."

"Has anyone left the building yet, Stein?"

"No, sir."

"I'm going in. Death scythe, come with me, it's time to end this." The jets on Lord Death's attire vanished. Scythe complied and followed him into the smoke and flames. Leaving Stein behind to tend to those in need.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well... shit... that worked." Kid laughed maniacally and peeked over the steel table. Incinerated corpses covered the cold concrete floor. The young adult vaulted over the improvisation shield and admired his work. "That'll teach you fuckers not to fuck with me!"

The smoke dissolved through a hole in the roof and out the stairs that lead to the upper levels of the warehouse. "Okay, I admit, that was a little overkill. Using three grenades on you guys was a waste, but _fuck_ it was more fun than mocking reality TV!"

Two shadows dropped through the hole in the roof. Kid removed both his guns from his shoulder holsters and pointed them at the figures. Instantly the larger object stood on guard and raised his weapon. It looked like an incredibly sharp scythe.

'_I wonder who my next victim will be. I hope this guy at least gives me a run for my money.'_

"I'll give you one warning," boomed a gruff and creepy sounding voice, "Tell me where Asura is and you might get off easy." Kid smiled, his tattoo pulling at his face. The hood covering his face sent shadows to tango on his face as the flames from above began with the dance of ashes.

"I'll take your studious silence as a stubborn refusal. Very well then, we'll do this the hard way!" The man charged. Kid fired 12 consecutive shots. Nothing hit the man and he was soon upon him.

Kid back flipped and landed behind the metal table. He kicked the heavy object. It made contact with his attacker. It gave him enough time to reload and aim, but not enough to fire. A deadly sharp blade swiped at his gun and chopped the front clean off. Kid stared at the empty chamber with a stoic face.

'_He killed. My gun. AW HELL NO!' _

Kid tossed the broken weapon at the assailant, who swiftly disposed of it with two swipes of the scythe. The broken pieces clattered to the ground. Kid removed another gun from his hip and shot at the man while dodging attacks skilfully. His lean body twisted into the air and landed firmly on his feet before sliding back slightly under the force of the impact.

'_This isn't working. There's no place to take cover and short range attacks aren't working for me. I need to get into the open, but how?"_ The younger male's eyes scanned from under the darkness of his hood for an opening. The only one he found was behind his attacker who was steadily pushing him back into the hall.

There was a rush of air behind him. Kid's eyes widened. He jumped up into the air just as a blade swung where he had previously stood. _'WTF?'_ Before his eyes could even land on the second attacker he was gone in a flash. Kid landed heavily on his feet, his black boots making a loud impact with the ground.

'_Great, now I have another one to worry about! Where'd he come from anyway?! I didn't even hear him!"_

Kid was shocked. He reeled back as the scythe swiped at him again. _'This isn't the first time you fought an unfair battle. Remember your training.'_ Kid racked his brain as he dodged a flurry of swipes and attacks, while firing rapid shots.

He reloaded furiously. And shot again. Each one of his bullets this man dodged with the skills of someone Kid had never seen before. No one had even been able to evade his bullets before. _'_**Finally**;_ a match worthy of my talents.'_

A second gust of wind from above him was all warning he had. Kid fell onto his back and rolled to the side. A blade crashed into the ground. _'Damn this guy is fast. And _incredibly _annoying!'_

Before he could get to his feet the first assailant was upon him like a groupie upon a band member. "Shit." The sharp blade pushed against Kid's chin and tilted his head up. Yet his face was still hidden_. 'Trapped behind the blade of a skilled warrior- what a wonderful way to go down.' _Kid thought and glared up at the assailant.

"Thank you, Blackstar, you are excused." Lord Death announced as stared at the hooded figure.

"Are you sure?" Kid jumped slightly as the second attacker showed up next to the man dressed in a black cloak. They both glared at him where he lay with his back on the floor. "I am quite sure I can handle him." Without hesitation Blackstar was gone.

Something about this man seemed familiar to Kid, and the more he stared the more his fogged mind shocked back into life. His brain was like a mess of cobwebs and cotton wool. His mind felt like that giggly-tingly feeling you get when your leg regains normal blood flow after sitting on it for too long.

"By your experience, I believe you are one of the higher ranks. No one would have lasted that long with me; so you must know where Asura is hiding. That piece of info is virtually the only thing keeping you breathing right now. So it would be wise to start talking."

Bubbling laughter escaped passed Kid's mouth before he could stop himself. The demented sound grew and grew until it engulfed the entire maze of walls and corridors, maze routes which he had learned all too quickly after his enrolment into the gang. After all, if you didn't learn your way around... it's easy to lose yourself amongst the vast and barren halls.

The weapon lifted higher and pressed against his extremely ashen skin. His manic laughter cut of instantly. Kid's eyes hardened. He wasn't afraid of death. He wasn't afraid of anything. Fear is a weakness that he had long since abandoned. So what was this weird feeling he was feeling in his lower stomach?

Why was sweat dripping down his forehead and why were his hands shaking? It can't be fear. Fear was a word that no longer existed in his dictionary. "Shit." Kid's whole frame wracked with his shaking and it looked like he was having a seizure.

Lord Death frowned. What just happened? One moment the young adult was laughing like a mad-man and the next he's vibrating like a chair. He took his weapon away from the man's throat cautiously, still not trusting that the man was innocent.

Lord Death tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy. The younger male was swearing profusely under his breath and it seemed like he tried to control the frame-rattling shivers. "AH!"

Kid turned onto his side and gripped his head. His fingers fisted the material of his hood and griped tight enough to expose while knuckles. "Shit, fuck, crap, _shit!_" He curled up. Sweat leaked down his head. Kid was painfully aware of the unknown man's gaze on his body. But he couldn't help it!

Lord Death, never liking to see a person suffering dropped his weapon and knelt down beside the young man. "What's happening?" A hand settled on Kid's side. The reaction was instantaneous. Kid flinched away. Memories of the agony Medusa caused him flashed through his bruised brain.

"Don't touch me!" He hissed lowly, like a rabid dog giving off a warning growl. Lord Death retracted his hands in shock. He knew that voice. It sounded like... _no_ that can't be! She had told him that Kid was gone! She had said that he had lost himself and that he was never coming back!

Unless she meant it figuratively!

"Kiddo?"

Kid froze. His shaking quieted down to light trembles. _'I remember that name. Wasn't that the Name of that innocent... dude... who died a long time ago?'_

"Kiddo, is it really you?"

Kid felt fingers griping at the edge of his hood and slowly pull. His eyes widened. _'NO! My identity must stay secret! Asura said... said that... what did he say? I can't remember. It must be something important if I remember.' _

Kid thrashed wildly, trying in vain to shake the hand away from his only source of protection. "No, can't let them see, can't let them know, can't let them, can't let them..."

The hood fell away from his face. Lord Death gasped and recoiled slightly. _'You're not dead...'_ Surprised simply beyond words the older man had nothing to offer but showing. Where words failed action picked up. Lord Death reached for his son, wanting to hold him. Wanting to protect him. It had been so long, so painfully long since the last time he had seen his baby son.

Large arms wrapped around him protectively. Kid felt himself be rocked back and forth. The motion was... soothing... somehow. He felt himself leaning into the warmth of the embrace, his eyes fluttering closed slowly. Kid heard soothing words be spoken. They sounded hurt and confused and fearful.

"What have they done to you, Kiddo?"

Kid had no idea who this guy was and why he referred to him as 'Kiddo' the whole time, and he had absolutely NO fucking idea what 'they' did to him, but something about this just didn't sit well with him.

Why was he allowing this man to hold him? Why did he like it so much and what was this feeling in his abdomen? All these strange feelings bubbled inside of Kid and it made him feel... afraid... he felt fear. Fear. NO! He had to get away! Fear meant pain and pain was bad. He didn't want to feel pain. He wanted the pain to end. Kid shook his head as the fear rushed through him.

Kid thrashed and pushed at the man's chest, refusing to sit still.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The sudden shouting emanating from his son startled Lord Death. He held on tighter as Kid began to squirm. "No, Kiddo, I can't let you go. You're not well. I need to get you the help you need, so you need to be a good boy and stop moving."

"LET GO OF ME! Who are you?! What are you doing to me? Let go of me you monster! HELP! He's going to kill me! He's going to kill me, help!" Kid lashed out with his legs. "I'll never let you go, never again! I'll help you, Kid, I promise. We'll get through this together." A sudden hot pain in his chest made him let go of Kid.

The lithe body went limp on the ground before scrambling away. Lord Death looked down. A push dagger was situated neatly between his ribs. "Kid?" But the young man (Still just a boy in the eyes of his father) ignored him. With wide, terrified eyes, Kid scrambled onto his feet and ran passed him towards the hole in the ceiling.

Lord Death drew the steel from his flesh and got up- chasing after his son. "Kid, wait!" Before he could catch up Kid had already hauled himself through the hole. Lord Death grimaced and pressed his hand to his chest. He knew it would heal quickly and that there was no harm done, but it still hurt!

The small jets appeared and the elder shinigami flew through the hole. The destruction that met him above ground in the warehouse was... indescribable. Every soldier and Meister that had been brought along was either lying on the ground, unconscious, or dead, mixed with the corpses of their enemies.

Luckily the flat, rubble and debris strewn plains granted him a clear sight of his son fleeing. He sped after the running black dot, determined to catch him and bring him back. He has to help his son. Or die trying.

Kid turned his head and saw the creepy man gaining on him. Well, at least that was what a mind would see that wasn't intoxicated with drugs. Go long enough without **M**adness and then the madness and fear will consume you.

Kid changed direction and ran for a small hill in the distance. Puffing steam and turning wheels on tracks accompanied the laboured breathing of Kid's tired lungs. He increased his pace. He had to get away from the monster chasing him. He had to escape. He had to get away from the man that wanted to kill him. He can't meet the same fate as his fellow gang members.

HE COULDN'T!

With the last vestiges of his energy Kid made it over the hill just as it started to rain. The onslaught of unexpected water made him slip and fall onto the wet ground. Mud soaked his jeans and spilled into his eyes. Whistles blowing and steam beckoning, Kid stood up and ran for all he was worth. He wiped the mud out of his eyes with his sleeve, his eyes squinting painfully as the rain slashed into his eyes.

The sky raged war against the earth, bullets rained down and cannons burst in the grey heaven. Machine guns rattled and gun shots fired and the breath of life rushed through the green hair of the rattles plains. The white flashes of lightning blinded Kid even more and he was struggling now to reach his escape, to reach his relief that would take him away from the monster chasing him.

Lord Death's jets complained with a whine as the water splashed into the ignition. He came to a halt at the top of the hill. That was how far those things would allow him to go. He watched as his son scrambled onto the departing train and vanished into the distance.

Sad eyes lingered on the sight. He would never be able to catch up. He had other priorities. But those needs were overridden by his need to comfort his son and help him. He needed to know what happened to him. He needed to understand what went through Kid's mind when he saw him. He needed to know.

What had they done to him in those 7 years he was missing? How much of his son was left? How much of himself had his son ruined?

How much was left for saving?

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"Why should I apologize for the monster I've become? Nobody has ever apologized for making me this way."

Unknown

¤CM¤


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Golden eyes snapped open. Clouds of air slipped out between his lips. His body shivered of the cold. Crystallised water had crusted around his face and gave him the appearance of a monster that came out of the North Pole.

He sat up straight. His muscles moaned in misery, "Nnnngg." and so did he. Kid looked around him while dusting the ice off his face. Wooden crates and boxes strapped down all around him was nothing to go by, but a stamp on the side of one was.

"'_Trans-Death City Railway'." _ Kid shot up and scrambled over to the door. He pulled it open and was met with a fast moving landscape and heavy snow falling from the sky. He shivered and scampered back from the edge.

"So much for jumping."

For a long time Kid sat against the wall of the train cart with his knees drawn to his chest, just watching the scenery roll by. Occasionally his fingers would twitch and his muscles would spasm. Frost covered the wood at the opening and the cold slowly crept towards him.

Icy fingers gripped him around his throat and made him shudder. Goose bumps broke across Kid's skin. "Why does snow have to be so fucking _cold_?!"

'_Because it's the same sensation as your heart, and everyone knows that no one likes the cold, just like no one likes you.' _Kid's shoulders slumped and he tightened his grip around his knees. _'You should just run away. Why bother going back and freeing all those people who deserve to be imprisoned? You should just run away and leave everything behind. _

'_You should just be free and let them die, let all of them die. You can forget about all of this. You can forget about Asura, about the gang... about that man... you can be whatever you want and there would be no one to stop you.'_

Kid laughed. And laughed. Then laughed some more. It was the type of manic laughter you get when you had too much sugar and someone told a retarded joke. Smoke escaped his mouth in gallons and suddenly the cart wasn't so cold anymore.

"You're right! You're right, why should I bother doing them a favour when they messed up my life?!" Kid stood up, his shoes a stone frozen shield against the cold. "Freedom is only a train ride away." Kid sat back down, his back pressing into the slightly warm wood and waited for time to pass.

Freedom was only a train ride away.

The feeling of freedom. He had long forgotten the feeling. The last time he had felt free was when he was able to... when he was able to... what? Kid frowned. Why couldn't he remember anything? Why was his brain trying to mess him up?! All he wanted was to remember something!

Kid's body jostled to the side as the train came to an abrupt stop. He stood up from where he sat. _'Can we be there already?'_ The screeching of metal on rails sounded like the screaming of a woman in distress. Kid plugged his ears and clamped his eyes shut. Until the noise faded away. He opened his eyes.

When the train came to a stop, so did Kid's heart. "Shit." He whispered and removed his fingers from his ears. Staring through his exit.

"Death the Kid, you are under arrest for the accounts of first degree murder on 1567 human lives. You have the right to shut up." Before Kid could even move an inch or reach for his guns a dart hit him in the neck. "The fuck?" His hand reached up and picked the small projective from his flesh.

The world around him blurred and his feet felt heavy and numb. Black spots dotted his vision like spray paint on a blank canvas. Slowly swallowing his vision. He stretched his eyes as wide as he could, but the darkness kept crawling. He knew what this was, he had felt it before. It was the same feeling you got when you've been drained of blood.

It was the same light-headed sensation you get when you stand up too fast. And it was the same feeling you get when you've been shot with a bloody tanq dart. Kid's legs gave out under him and he collapsed onto the wooden floor on the train. Cold air washed onto his face. The black crawled closer and closer and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

It was the same sensation he got when he devoured Madness.

And he hated every second of it.

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"Come on Kiddo, wakey wakey rise and shine!"

"Nnnng."

"Come on, wake up Kiddo."

"No... hurts too much."

*sigh* "I know. You wouldn't think so, but I do. I know."

Kid squint his eyes and slowly blinked his golden orbs open. There was no light glaring at him, there was no disturbing noise and the ever-present tendrils of cold were missing. "Why the _fuck_ does my head feel like cotton candy?!"

Kid's hands reached up-

_Clink clank _

The young adult froze. Bewildered eyes looked at his wrists. Shackles were bound heavily around his arms and were pulled taught against the wall behind him. Grey stone. Oppressing grey stone walls. _'Where had I seen that ugly shade before? Fifty shades of grey?'_

"I must apologise for the restraints, Kid, but the Senate had decided that it would be best."

"Those _retards_ who you have decided a couple of years ago to be a council for the city is as useless as Justin Bieber with a microphone! Besides, do you really think a couple of puny shackles will keep me in place?"

Kid pulled furiously at the metal restraints. His wrists chaffed and became red. Kid stopped in his efforts and glared at the cloaked and masked man who was standing beyond the bars of his cell. 

"You don't want me to answer that."

"No. You don't want _me_ to answer that." Another bout of struggling ensured that Kid's wrists began to bleed. Kid struggled and grunted as the red liquid walked down his arm. His struggling grew more animalistic and frantic and Kid was soon nothing but a thrashing mutt on the ground. "Let me go you bitch!"

Lord Death stared at his son in shock. Where had his flesh and blood learned how to speak like that?! "Kid?"

"Stop calling me that! That's not my name!" Lord Death fell silent and stared at his son. _'Kid, what happened to you?' _The man stood up straight like a rod and looked at his son. Behind his mask he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. His mind sped at three thousand miles an hour.

There was so much going on. Half his city was blown to smithereens. Half his men were dead and the other half were in the hospital. Death City was being run by the Senate. And his son, his most prized jewel in his entire life, had changed so much. He was no longer that boy he saw fighting in the hallway almost 8 years ago.

That boy was dead. He was captured and locked behind murdered memories and playful masks. He was taken prisoner by his inner demons and was abused to the brink of destruction. Madness had engulfed his sanity and mutilated it passed the point of despair and had given back a pathetic heap of human flesh.

His son. The young adult who has no recollection of who he is or who he himself is. His beloved son who was supposed to be the saviour of his generation, not the murderer of his own peers, of his own friend, of his own self.

Lord Death opened his eyes. Bright golden hues that shone like the maniac moon gleamed at him in flared anger. "The fuck are you looking at, freak?!" Shinigami- sama flinched back at the venomous words.

A huge hand reached out and unlocked the door. Death the Kid frowned as the older man stepped in and closed the door behind him. The large figure knelt down in front of the melted figure.

Lord Death removed his gloves slowly, taking each large white hand off slowly. Pale hands lay the gigantic gloves at the side. Kid stared curiously. "The fuck are you doing, dude?" genuine confusion leaked passed those tattooed lips and drifted like bitter flames into the father's ears.

"I have been hiding behind masks for so long, that I've forgotten what it was like to feel truly exposed. What it felt like to be completely open and weak to others. I have been concealed behind my own facades for so long that I've ignored the pain of others in favour of keeping my pain hidden from those who could help me. I was stupid. I was shamefully wrong. And I've done you wrong.

"All those years. I realize now, when it's too late. All those lonely years. What have I done to you, Kid? This isn't your fault. This is mine. I did this to you. All you wanted was comfort and when I wasn't there to give it to you; you had to go seek elsewhere. And because of your containment you didn't know better.

"You didn't know what horrors there were in the world. And it was all my fault. And I can't take it back. I can't... take it back."

The pale hand removed the mask from his face and let it clutter to the cold, frozen ground. Kid tilted his head to the side. His eyes moved over each line, over each horribly deep dark bag hanging under the other male's eyes and settled on the tears streaming down the man's face.

Ebony dark hair with ivory stripes running through the dark locks, like a racetrack, covered most of the shockingly golden eyes. The strong face and cheekbones were pulled in a grimace of pain that ran deeper than the flesh. A closely shaven black beard, that looks more like a tattoo, covered most of his face. White stripes resembling skull teeth were the colour of the hair that stretched over his mouth and onto his chin.

Kid took everything in.

Something about the face looked familiar and prickled his brain like sun after you've stepped out of the shadows. Dark brows furrowed. He leaned in closer, his eyes becoming slits as he inspected the face more intensely.

A chained hand reached forward, wanting to touch the man's hair, the hair that seemed to his memories like silk, but was restrained and caused a small trail of blood to walk idly down his blood tracked arm.

"You look familiar. Did I maybe kill your son?"

More tears leaked out of Lord Death's tired eyes as he shook his head. He wanted to speak, but his words caught in his throat and lumped there like gum that got stuck to the bottom of your shoe.

"Yes," He finally answered, with a hitch in his swollen throat, "You killed my son. Not on purpose, but accidentally. Most of the blame is mine. You didn't kill him, I did. This is one murder that you committed that was not a crime."

Slowly the man stood up. He took a long look at his son. He wiped his eyes, clearing them of the transparent fluid. "I love you, Kid. No matter what you did. I love you. And I'm sorry. I'm so _fucking_ sorry."

Kid blinked rapidly. The fog in his mind kept him from seeing. It kept him from unravelling the situation and debunking his past. And it frustrated him into infinity! He knew, he _knew_ there was something he was missing. Kid knew there was a small fact he was over looking.

"Wait!"

Lord Death looked at his son. "Why don't I remember?" The older man shook his head. He faced away from his son in shame. _'Retrograde amnesia.' _

"I don't know. Only you have the answer to that." He answered and stepped out of the cell. "I do not deny evil, nor do I believe that any human is completely free of malice. Everything must be in balance. As long as evil and good maintain an equilibrium in this world there is no problem. Perfect balance is the key to everything."

Lord Death froze. His back went as straight as a rod. The chains clinked behind him and the silence that ensued was more oppressing than Thor's hammer on your chest. Each word the younger spoke sounded measured and tested. It flowed like a broken record **or** an overused cassette.

The shackles moved more and clinked annoyingly. Lord Death whirled around. Kid struggled desperately to get his hands free. His face was scrunched up as memories flooded back into his mind.

Blood flowed like a leaky faucet and spilled more of its warm liquid on the soil of regained memories. Kid grimaced. His face grew deathly pale as more of his life essence drained from him.

Lord Death rushed forward and grabbed Kid's wrists. "No, stop it, Kid! You're hurting yourself!" He didn't hear him. The overwhelming pain from regained memories pressed down on his brain like a bag stuffed with too much items and was filled to the seams, waiting to burst.

Panic flooded Shinigami-san's senses. An idea from long, long ago, came to mind. It was buried behind a mask of old forgotten memories of happier days when things were easier and less troublesome. It was an anthem. An anthem for lost souls and broken spirits. An anthem for those in need of comfort. For those in need of love.

"Hush, little one, don't you weep. I'll sing you a song and sing you to sleep. With soft a tune and calm a tone I'll keep you safe and never leave you alone."

Kid stopped struggling. Momentarily. Before struggling even more. Lord Death wrapped his son in his arms and tucked his head under his chin and rocked his boy back and forth. "I've got you, Kid. It's okay. I have you."

"Father," Kid whispered almost inaudibly. His voice was choked and sounded like he was struggling to hold back tears, whether it is from the emotional or physical pain, "I made a mistake. I did something terribly wrong." Lord Death felt hot wetness seep through his cloak and shirt.

He tightened his grip on his son and pulled him closer to his chest. He didn't reply. "That day... after you... you..."

"Its okay, Kid."

"No! It's not!" Kid forced his way out of his father's grip. His face was a puffy red, but his icy anger shone through quite clearly. "You don't understand! You never understand! You never _listen_! It makes me wonder if Asura was even wrong for being so vengeful towards you!"

Death saw the look in his son's eyes. Those golden orbs weren't the eyes of his son. They weren't the eyes of his boy he saw just moments before. They had changed so rapidly from terrified and pained to angry and... insane. It was inhumane. It wasn't his son. What happened to him?

"Then allow me to listen! Don't shut me out! Don't you hide behind a mask as well! Let me in! Let me help you, Kid!" Shinigami- sama went to envelope his son in his warm grip again. "Don't touch me! Get away from me! You don't love me! You're going to kill me! Just like you're going to kill all the others! Just like you're going to kill our gang leader!"

"So you admit that Asura is your gang leader and solely that? There is nothing else conspiring between you?"

Kid felt the colour drain from his face. Lord Death tilted his head to the side. Kid's eyes changed back to those of his son; back to the boy he knew and loved. And the frightened... no- scared shitless- look on his face terrified him. What was going on?

"Kid?"

The hooded man flinched back at his name, like scorching water was thrown in his face. He didn't respond. Lord Death spoke more forcefully. "Kid?"

"Leave me."

"No, I won't go. Asura believes you can protect him. Can you see?"

"You killed my 'family', ruined my 'home' and destroyed my world and you expect me to soothe your worries! How _dare _you!" Kid pulled his chains to their full length. Lord Death leaned back, out of range of his son who seemed to be Bipolar. Kid's face was scrunched up, his teeth bared like a wild animal and his eyes filled to the brim with madness.

"Tell me about my brother."

This time it was Lord Death's turn to be as pale as death itself. "What about your brother. He's dead."

"Don't lie to me!"

Lord Death flinched back at the fucking poisonous tone of his blood kin. "You lied to me about his existence! I had to fucking find out that I even had a brother from some second hand shit bag! And now you're lying to me again!"

"It was for your own good! If you knew about him then-"

"Then what?!" Demanded Kid, testing the limits of his cuffs again. "Then what?! Where you afraid that you would lose your _perfect fucking son_?!"

"Yes!" Kid faltered at the shouted reply, not expecting it. "I was scared that you would become like him! I was terrified that you would follow in his footsteps! And you proved my worries right! You did as I predicted and it was. All. My. Fault. If I was there for you, if I warned you from the beginning then we might never be stuck in this situation in the first place!"

"I don't understand! What the fuck do you mean with 'you proved my worries right' and 'follow in his footsteps'?! I didn't idolise anyone! I didn't copy anyone! I only did like I-" Kid paused and considered all the information. His wrists went slack and hung bloodied in his metal cage.

"Aura..." Kid whispered inaudibly under his breath. His long hair fell over his eyes; his hood slipped down and shadowed his face. Death the Kid saw more clearly in those few moments than he had in the past few years.

His eyes widened. His head shot up. He stared at his father. He flew upright and lunged for the man kneeling below him. Lord Death backed away faster than lightning could strike. The chains restrained Kid. "You. I'll kill you! Look what you've done to me! You've chained me to the wall like a fucking animal! You've thrown me down here and locked me away! You took _everything _from me! I'll kill you!"

Kid roared and pulled like a beast at his restraints. "Let me go!" He pulled so furiously that blood began flowing from his slowly deepening wounds. Lord Death could only stare in horror at what had become of his son.

Footsteps down the corridor alerted the Grim reaper of the approaching guards. "Kid, please calm down, I don't want them to hurt you!" Frantically the elder man looked between his son, his disguise and the approaching men.

And in that split second he made his decision.

The soldiers came running through the open gate and was met with the sight of an animalistic prisoner and a besides himself Lord Death. It took no more than a moment for the woman to regain composure. "I heard shouting, Shinigami- sama. I was afraid something had happened to you."

Death shook his head. "Please sedate him and take him to the infirmary. I don't want his wrists to get infected before the Senate had made their decision on what to do with him." The guard nodded and took the tranquilizer gun from the loop on her belt. Kid froze and stared at the weapon in her hand.

"Not that shit again! It gives me-"

Bang!

"-Nightmares." Kid finished as his strength slowly failed him and he finally hung limp. Lord Death turned his head as the second guard unshackled him, examining his wrists. The man gave a long low whistle. "Wow, he tore right through his gloves. They would have to be removed before Professor Stein can take a look at the wounds."

Death didn't react as the two guards carried his unconscious son to the dispensary. After they were long gone, the man sunk to his knees. A single tear slipping from behind his mask and plopping onto the ground.

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"You won't kill me."

"What's with the sudden boost of confidence, Asura?"

"Merely because I know that he won't allow it." Asura threw his head in the direction of Lord Death and smiled sweetly. Lord Death was seated between the five members of the Senate: a group of men and women who now ruled Death City with decisions that had to be unanimous in order to be executed.

And as it was, they were still arguing over Asura's execution.

"Why do you believe, in that puny mad, messed up mind, of yours that I would _ever _even _consider_ not killing you? After what happened I won't make the same mistake as sending you to jail again."

"Awww, you're just saying that because there is no jail to send me to. But I'm fairly sure you won't hang me." Another sweet smile crinkled the mad man's features. He was cuffed to a chair in front of the panel of judges in the court room of Death City.

In the tiers above a low murmur bubbled from the mouths of the onlookers and in the pews below the civilians glared at the criminal. Some mothers cried over the loss of their children, Meisters, who were killed by Asura's gang, and the fathers tried their best to be brave for their families.

The eldest member of the Senate, a greying woman with piercing green eyes, slammed the gavel down on the hard wood stand. "Silence! I will not tolerate any disruptions during the session." The low hum of voices drifted away and the court continued.

"Answer the question, Asura."

"I'm sorry, what was the inquiry?"

The woman controlled her annoyance with a well toned temper from years of experience. "Why do you say that Death the Kid will protect you? I am well aware that you are well aware that we are all well aware that you are well aware that Death the Kid is kept under lock and key in a disclosed area in Death City."

"Oh, I _am _well aware that you are well aware that everyone is well awaw... never mind. Kid is in the DWMA, I can feel it in my-" Asura cut himself off. The entire court house seemed to lean forward, waiting anxiously for an answer that Asura will never let leave him lips.

"Father, have I ever told you how absolutely fucked up you look in that outfit?"

"Cut the crap, Asura. We know you're hiding something and torture isn't out of my boundaries, so if I was you, my mouth would be slickened up like oil and spilling all its contents."

"Ah, that reminds me of this story. It has to do with a ton of sensual oils and a dozen of hookers. I'm pretty sure a feather boa was involved and OH, the contents spilled on that day were much different from information-"

"Enough! Get the electric chair." The court burst out in both ethnic outcries and baleful death declarations. Asura's smile widened. "Ah, so you want to find out the hard way, now do you, daddy? Well, who am I to keep you from discoveries?"

He was grabbed by the arms and lifted forcefully, chains and all, and dragged out of the court. Lord Death watched. Someone had to pay for the damage that was caused on their town. And they couldn't hang him until Asura gave every ounce of information he had. No questions may be left unanswered.

Lord Death sat firmly. The Senate seemed to be glaring at him out of the corners of their eyes. They probably believed he conspired with the criminals. "Death?" Shinigami- san lifted his head and perked his attention. Seeing she got his attention, the eldest member started talking.

"What did you find out in your little trip down to see your second little criminal?"

"His mind is corrupted and crumbled. There is little to no sanity left. If he was to regain lucidity we're going to have a hard time getting him the death sentence. The chances that he'll be sent to a sanatorium are larger and more overwhelming." The woman grunted and faced forward. "Pardon me, Death, but I don't believe you. There is still a chance you are in accordance with them, so at the moment, concerning them, your word means next to nothing."

The woman whispered harshly and Lord Death was afraid the court would hear. "You're just as senile as your husband." The woman showed no signs of recognition. The grim reaper could feel the shock of electricity and static enter the air. He shivered. If it weren't for the sound proof walls he was sure he would hear Asura's screams as well.

The feeling vanished and he relaxed his tensed shoulders. _'It had to be done. It had to be done it had to be-'_

The electric buzz filled the atmosphere once more. Then again. And again. _'I won't let you give my son the death sentence, Asura. I don't care if I have to send him to an Asylum, but he won't get killed. You'll bear the full brunt of yours and his consequences.' _

When the static left again, his heart was beating so fast he could swear the organ was getting ready to jump out of his throat. And that was when Stein came running into the room. All heads turned to him. The man in the white coat ignored everyone and made a beeline for Lord Death.

The green eyed woman slammed her little wooden hammer down when the court burst into outcries full of rage and protests. Stein stopped in front of Death. "There is no time to waste. You need to come with me." Lord Death stood up without question. "What is it Stein?"

He followed the man out of the court, moving swiftly through all the anger and heated glares while the ferocity burned into their backs from the eldest Senate member who continued to slam the living shit out of that gavel.

"It's your son."

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"Every hero is the villain of his own story."

-Holly Black

¤CM¤


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

"There is nothing more funny," Began Asura and spit a clont of blood out of his mouth, "Than stupid people being even stupider." He laughed maniacally, his head thrown back and his mouth open like the jaws of a great white shark.

The man nodded to his partner, who nodded back at him in turn before switching the machine on again. Asura stopped laughing and jerked from side to side as volts of electricity pulsed through his brain and body.

His hands twitched against the leather straps and his body convulsed, trying _desperately_ to escape the danger. The shock ceased. The man's body gave a few more impulsive twitches before slowly falling still.

The interrogator looked at his subject and sneered. "Garbage." He spat at the shocked man's feet. "Never dissolves, _**private**_." Replied Asura, out of breath, with a smile. "Why you- turn up the voltage and have another go at it!" The man, doing as his superior officer demanded, cranked up the dosage and flipped the switch.

Asura shook again.

And again.

Until he was half fried and half dead.

"Are your lips loose now?"

Asura shook his head, which looked more like a spastic attack, and laughed. Another blood clot was sent to the floor. "I'm pretty sure that you'll discover what I meant soon enough, but my tongue will reveal nothing until it's too late."

The marshal stepped forward threateningly and grabbed Asura around the neck. "In the end, you piece of trash, you are the one who is stupid." He let go of the man and punched him. Asura's head jerked to the side under the impact. He started laughing. The noise built from a low tremor and worked its way up until it consumed everything with madness.

Electricity soon followed the madness down the pathways of his veins.

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Lord Death and Professor Stein came banging through the door to the dispensary. The shouting could be heard from down the hall and sent icy fingers tingling up the father's spine.

It was a guttural animalistic shout of pain and agony, full of flaming discomfort. Stein rushed forward. Lord Death stood frozen on his feet. Death the Kid was having tremors in the bed. His legs were shaking and his head was tossing to and fro. His arms were restrained with a strap going over his chest and pinning him down with his wrists skilfully bandaged.

His legs were also restrained. Kid didn't seem to try and escape; looking more like a seizure than an attempt of escape. That was until another shout of pain grumbled out of his mouth.

"What's going on, Stein?" Lord Death all but demanded an answer to. Stein adjusted the strength of the straps and pulled them tighter around the muscular chest, successfully pinning him down as close to the bed as possible.

"It began not too long after he arrived and I had a good look at his wounds. By the way, those gloves had to be thrown away. But that is only one of the two reasons I wanted you to come here."

Death the Kid fell still, his muscles only slightly twitching, like a lizard's tail after it fell off. "Then what-"

"Look here," Stein lifted the immobilized teen's wrist and opened his clenched fingers. Lord Death stepped closer and almost recoiled at what he saw. "No." He whispered.

The gravity of the situation hit him like a fat fist to a petite person's chest. And he felt winded. "Why would he do that?!"

"That is the least of our worries. I'm sure that you are aware of what the scar entitles?" Kid looked as if he had passed out. His face was smoothed over and extremely pale. Without his hood he looked less threatening. Without the piece of material all of his features were easy to see and exposed his weakness.

And Lord Death saw all of it when he looked over at his son with worry in his eyes; hidden perfectly behind his mask. He knew exactly what the scar meant. He was the one who discovered the black magic. He was the one who set up the rules. And he was the one who declared it illegal and to be punished with death.

"It means that if Asura dies, so does Kid." The shinigami stated, staring at his son. "I won't allow that to happen, you know that Stein."

"I suspected something of the sort. You know the Senate won't be happy with whatever you have planned."

Lord Death stepped up to his son and ran un-gloved fingers through his hair, much to Stein's surprise. "You know the scar influences people in a negative way, Stein. That was the reason I made it illegal. The negative effects it has on a person can affect our City in an unconstructive way. That's why I made it illegal.

"This isn't Kid's fault. He was influenced by the scar. I understand now. I know. He was corrupted, like so many others, by Asura and his Madness. We have to save him, Stein."

"We?"

"Yes, you're going to help me get my son... _sons_... out of here so Kid doesn't have to die."

"What about Asura?"

"What about him?!" Demanded Lord Death. "Well there's a great possibility that he might escape and kill everyone in the world!" Stein replied and lit a cigarette. Lord Death took the stick and broke it in half- throwing it out the door. "No smoking when my son's in the hospital!" Stein looked broken-hearted and about to cry.

"That was my last one."

"Well it's a good time to quit then."

Stein glared daggers at the man. "THEY DON'T MAKE CIGARETTES ANYMORE AND YOU JUST MURDERED MY LAST ONE!" Lord Death shrugged and rolled his eyes.

"What the fuck?" Both professor and shinigami wheeled around at the new voice. Their hearts beat faster than the beat of a drum and their poses struck on the defensive automatically.

Stein was the first to relax. Lord Death never left his taught position. He stepped in between the bed and the doorway, shielding his son from view. "I thought he was dead!"

"Calm down, Blackstar, we all thought he was-" Stein was interrupted by the assassin stepping into the room. "Why did nobody tell me he was alive?!" Lord Death stopped the considerably taller and older man with his frame. "It was on a need-to-know basis."

"I'm his friend! I spent three years looking for him and the other four thinking he was dead! I think I need to know!"

"Let me rephrase: this is on a classified-top-secret, mind-your-own-business basis." Blackstar attempted to look passed the black cloaked figure, but was firmly pushed back by a large gloved hand.

"I think you should leave, Blackstar."

Blackstar slit his eyes and scrunched his mouth. Then he was gone. Stein and Death blinked then turned around quickly. Blackstar was crouched down on the bed inspecting the comatose young man.

"You restrained him because he's suicidal? Well, I suppose it is normal behaviour for a person who was rescued from a hell hole like Asura's HQ."

"You make assumptions that are quite irrational-"

"Am I, Stein? I read the reports. There were several accounts of rescued hostages; one of them mentioned someone from Shinigami-sama's son's squad. And taken in that he was there for such a long time the emotional strain might have lead him to suicidal tendencies. There are bandages on his wrists. I'm not an idiot."

Lord Death shoved the assassin away from his son. He flipped into the air skilfully and landed in a crouched position on Kid's right side. He lifted the restrained hand. Stein and Lord Death ran forward to stop him, but were too late.

"The fuck?" Blackstar leaned in closer and inspected the small skull scar. He frowned. His eyes scrutinised the mark. "I read about this somewhere. A book you gave me, Stein. It was a long time ago, but I can remember what was said about it."

"Oh, so you actually read it? I thought you used it for a coaster. Or toilet paper."

"Oh please, Stein," He looked at the scar again, twisting the hand to look at it from different angles, "I might have been like that, before, but I've changed. Besides," He mumbled. While holding the hand he looked up at them,

"You did write the inscription into the book that _'THE GREAT BLACKSTAR isn't so great if he gets an F on a silly_ _essay.' _ Incredibly inspirational for an ego-blown boy, Stein, you have the mind of a madman and the heart of a mundane mother."

"I do my best." Stein said matter-of-factly. Lord Death gave him a chop upside the head. "Be serious, Stein, we have to do something about the situation."

"Yes, a suicide attempt is serious. We have to get Kid a psychotherapist and-" The hand in his grip clenched and Blackstar looked at the strong hand becoming white with the vice like clench. Kid pulled his hand free of the other male's grip and glared at the figures surrounding him.

Confused eyes took in his surroundings. Three people surrounded him. One he recognised as the doctor, the other as his father, but the third escaped his mind like Harry Houdini.

That and he was tied to a bed and a random dude held his hand...

...

...

...

"GAY ASS MOTHER FUCKER! Get away from me!" Kid tried scotching to the other side of the bed. Blackstar stood up casually, his face a mask of blank seriousness, while watching his old-friend try to escape him.

"Haven't any of you told him about Tsubaki and me yet?" Lord Death looked at the ground. _'He doesn't remember you, but you wouldn't know that, now would you?'_

"That wasn't on the agenda. Your love life doesn't just enter a conversation." Stein commented and walked over to the shelf, shuffling through small bottles and packets of medicine.

Kid's eyes followed the lab coat-man strongly, not trusting the man who had watched him closely when he first woke up. He also didn't like how the man took away his favourite hooded jacket. Sceptic eyes trailed the man's every move and narrowed dangerously.

"What are you doing?" He snapped irritably. _'I swear to shit, if you drug me again I will fucking haunt you and make you go crazy, old man.' _As Kid watched the man Blackstar watched his long lost friend. "Well aren't you an irritable one. What did they do to you down there, tease you to death?" Kid snapped his eyes over to the unknown man. "You look like someone directly out of Assassin's Creed."

"I'll take that as a compliment, seeing as you look like someone directly out of a mental hospital." Blackstar crossed his arms and smiled smugly. "Looks like I'm not the only one who has changed."

Kid winced. His eyes shot like a bullet over to his arm. Stein pulled out the needle and threw it away. Death the Kid tried to yell at him and demand to know what he had done to him, but a soft calm settled over him. His eyelids hooded and his tensed shoulders relaxed.

"I gave him something to relax; we can't have him shouting when we move him. Having a sedated body is harder to transport." Stein whispered into Lord Death's ear.

"Why are you trying to move him?" Blackstar popped up randomly between them, causing mild surprise. "They're gonna kill me!" Kid yelled drunkenly from the bed, his head lolled to the side and fell onto the poufy pillow. He laughed softly at his words, seeming to find them amusing.

Everyone in the room stared at him weirdly while he chuckled to himself, and then abruptly went back to their conversation. "What does he mean you want to kill him?"

"Nothing, he's high on drugs." Stein commented casually. "Yeah! Drugs! I want some! Can someone bring me Madness? I need it to forget! Hehehe." Kid laughed softly again. Blackstar frowned. "Okay, something is going on here that you aren't telling me. So spill the beans before I spill the blood."

"Haha, blood, I love blood. It's so thick and red and beautiful." Stein slapped a hand over his face. Death looked worried. Blackstar looked pissed. Kid looked like he drank piss, or at least pissed the bed.

"Blackstar, now is not the time to look for answers-"

"You wanna know what's going on?" Kid asked, his head slowly spinning to a halt and looking directly at the inquiring assassin. "They wanna kill me because of this!" He lifted his hand and laughed at the expression of the man. His scar reflected in the black of the young adult's eyes.

"You want to kill him?!" He asked lowly, but his voice never lost the angry urgency. "You want to kill him because Asura forced that pledge onto him? You can't be serious!" Blackstar yelled, hushed, in outrage. "How can you be certain that Asura forced Kid to do the** Invariabilem pignus**?"

"Are you kidding me? Kid would never do something like that! I know him! He has morals and values! He won't ever do anything so reckless without being forced!"

Lord Death considered this. For an imbecile Blackstar was making a lot of sense. Asura was always a very influential person and it wasn't just the scar that would change Kid. Kid was a victim, not a criminal. "I believe Blackstar has a point, Stein."

Stein blinked and pushed up his glasses, while doing so he composed himself. He looked over at Kid who was laughing softly. "It might be possible that... okay, very well. Blackstar, if you are so determined to prove that Kid is innocent then you can help us get him out of here."

"Sure, I'll help you escape if it means Kid will live, but the question is: Where will we take him?"

"No, the real question is how we will be able to carry a half mad young man out of the building without anyone noticing." Stein commented while checking the hall outside the hospital wing. Voices floated down the hall in an echo. "Yes, sir, they ordered us to move him here because of his injuries."

"And judging by the voices we don't have much time before they show up. So you better come up with something quickly." Stein pulled his head back in and faced the two men who stared at him with bewildered eyes.

"What do you propose we do then?" Blackstar asked while walking over to Kid and checking the restraints. He pulled at the straps and found them more tightly bound than a masochistic victim. "Wow, Stein, you really know how to bind a bitch. I didn't know bondage was your type of thing."

The professor gave the assassin a dry look. "I wouldn't talk if I were you, what would Tsubaki say if she heard you? Hmmm, I wonder." Blackstar's face paled and drained of all conceivable colour at the mention of his wife.

Lord Death walked over to his son and shoved Blackstar out of his way. He made quick work of untying the loopy man.

Death the Kid laughed. And laughed and laughed. "We're all going to die." He said as casually as someone who would say that pudding was served. The door burst open without warning and sent them all gyrating around.

Lord Death's eyes, along with all the others, went as wide as saucers. "How the hell did you escape?!" Lord Death gawked. Asura smiled, blood soaked all over his body, his eyes gleaming with madness.

"Well, _father_, that's my little secret. All I'm going to say is that I have experience with escaping from tight places." He grinned a cold smile as his gaze settled on his young prodigy. "Hello, brother, you look... hehe... drugged up."

Kid laughed at Asura's laughter and soon the two brothers were laughing together. "Why are you laughing, young one?"

"Because I'm so shot up on drugs that for a second there I thought you called me your brother! Hahahah!" Asura stopped laughing. Kid laughed until he realized that he was the only one doing so and then stopped.

Blackstar looked more confused and disturbed than ever before in his life. Lord Death's face paled behind his mask. Stein looked indifferent. Asura looked just as confused, yet a bit more jovial, than the assassin.

"Oh dear. Looks like you didn't tell the young ones a _thing_! How shocking. I can't say I didn't expect if from the man who hides behind masks and lies, but honestly, professor, I thought you would at least use your head."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Blackstar blurted, caught between looking at Asura and his long-lost-now-found-friend. "Hahahahah! How quant! Well, if you're all going to just stand there, I'll take my baby bro and **go**." Asura stepped forward.

Blackstar whipped a concealed knife from his person and jumped in front of the bed. "One step closer to the edge and you're about to break." Asura removed his blade just as quickly and stood in a guarded position. The smile he wore was long gone now and deathly seriousness played on his face.

"Now, little scamper, don't be stupid. Put the weapon down before I have to kill you as well." Ah! There was that manic smile that they all knew so well. Asura gave them all a face-splitting tooth-flashing eye-blinding fucking messed up smile. Blackstar narrowed his eyes.

"You'll be dead before you can even blink. All I'm waiting for to attack is a reason. And I won't hold back. Not at all."

"I'll take you up on that offer, little scamper." Asura launched forward. Blackstar launched forward. "Shit." Stein stared shocked. Lord Death tried to stop the fight. "I love symmetry!" Kid shouted stupidly and with a lot of enthusiasm.

Before anyone could make sense of what was happening, Blackstar was on the floor, Kid was off the bed and Asura was standing in the doorway. Lord Death felt the claws of death grip at his body. "Give back my son you $$#OL!"

Asura pressed his knife higher against Kid's throat. "Hehehe, come and get him, **dad**."

'_Seriously, isn't his face supposed to fucking hurt by now with all that maniac smiling he's doing?!' _Blackstar thought as he stood up, rubbing the back of his head. When his eyes focussed on what was happening he grew angrier than he already was. Not only did Asura have the pluck to take a cheap shot like that, but now he wanted to murder his friend?!

Aw hell no.

"You cheating ass-"

Asura lifted the knife higher. "Ah ah ah! Tsk tsk, little scamper. Here I am about to murder your friend and you want to insult me? Don't _bite the hand that feeds you_!" Asura shouted. He was growing angry. Shit could get dangerous; easily.

"Listen, just drop the weapon and we'll work something out." Death bargained. He held his hands up and took and incredibly small step forward. The gang leader pressed the sharp steal closer to Kid's neck. Warmth seeped onto his arm, sticky and wet.

Kid cried out. His breathing became sporadic. The medicine wasn't helping him calm down. It was probably the only thing keeping him from going completely ballistic. Asura cried out not too long after. "Ow FUCK!" His hand loosened around the knife and retracted a little from Kid's neck.

"Damn. Forgot about that damn scar's curse... hehe, or maybe it can work as a blessing." He lifted the knife higher. Lord Death took in a sharp breath. The eldest man felt like he was being forced to walk on a tight rope. One wrong move can result in sudden death.

"Please, Asura, don't hurt him." He pleaded. Lord Death removed his mask and let it shatter on the ground. His eyes looked straight into both his son's. Sparing the longest of glances at his youngest.

"Well, father, I must say, that this is the first time I saw you without that silly mask on. It's disturbing to know that you haven't aged a day. I was hoping that maybe you would die of old age. I'm glad you didn't. That way I can finish you off myself."

He lifted his knife higher and pitched it towards Kid's chest. "NO!" Lord Death ran forward. He tackled both his son's to the floor like an expert rugby player. "Urmph." Their bodies hit the floor.

Asura rolled to the side and out of the way of his father's angry fist. With an angered face he scooped up his knife and his groaning brother and ran from the room, flinging the door open with great force.

"Dad!" Kid shouted as he was forced down the bloodied hall. "Kid!" Lord Death got onto his feet and ran from the medical ward, chasing after his sons. Bodies coated the halls. Blood splattered the walls. Death hung in the air. Death was everywhere.

Feet thumped on the floor chasing down the demon that destroyed innocence. Gloves were discarded to the linoleum as Death chased him- his mad son, to save him, his perfect boy.

Black boots to cold ground. Hard breaths to even harder pained sounds. And broken hearts to even more shattered facades. The cloak covering his shoulders flapped off his body like broken wings and flapped to the floor, to be forever ignored.

"I'm coming Kid!"

Lord Death took a turn into class crescent moon. And skid to a halt, his arms cart wheeling to keep him on his feet. The floor was slick with blood, causing him to nearly slip. Death saw his son held around the shoulders by Asura, a knife to his neck.

They were standing in the middle of the room.

Shinigami-sama looked around him and saw the bodies of his comrades, death weapons and close friends. And members of the Senate. Various wounds littered their bodies, but there was only one wound that was similar.

All their throats were slit.

"Do you like what I did? It took some time to drag all their bodies here, but I believe it was worth it. It puts a nice touch to the final face off, don't you think? Unfortunately one of them thought it would be smart to act dead and try to sneak an attack. So I just slit all their throats and drained them of blood.

"Vermillion is a beautiful colour. I've always been fond of it. How about you, baby brother?" Kid shook his head slightly, his eyes slightly cleared from its previous glazed over fogginess. Blood leaked down the sharp steel and flopped to the floor.

"Let him go, Asura! This is between you and me!" Lord Death shouted with all his might. His eyes couldn't help but scamper over to Kid, who was frightened and looked _**so**_ frail.

"Oh, you think so, do you? If this was purely between me and you then why did he come to me? Why did he practically BEG to be part of my gang and why did he WANT to get beat up by Medusa? Because he and I had a similar goal in mind. That goal was to kill you! The man who has caused so much pain and misery!

"This isn't just between me and you; it's between all of us. Unfortunately Kid isn't my favourite person in the world. And sadly, for you, he's your weakest link." Asura threw Kid onto the ground and landed a kick to his ribs.

"Ah!" Kid curled up and gripped his chest as the pangs of pain pulsed into his brain. "Don't touch him!" Lord Death ran forward. Asura bent down and pressed the knife to Kid's neck, uncurling the horrified young adult in the process. Lord Death stopped still.

Asura smiled. "Good man. Now unless you want your precious perfect boy to be cut to pieces you'll be a good little lad and stand still. I don't want you to get over zealous; you'll get your turn, old man, but first- let's give Kid his reward for all his years of loyal servitude in the house of Madness."

Asura slammed the hilt of the knife into Kid's head. Death flinched at his son's cry of pain. Asura stood up and brought his boot down on top of Kid's chest. "Urg." Kid's back arched to alleviate the pain as it pushed at his lungs and caused him to gasp for breath.

"Oh come now, don't be like that. Grow up and take it like a man. Besides, we're just getting started." Asura laughed again and furiously slammed his heavy feet down onto Kid's abused body. Kid curled up and coughed. "Please, leave me alone." Asura picked Kid up by his hair.

Being forced with nothing else to do but be pulled up, Kid went along with the motion, his face scrunched up. "Don't tell me what to do! I tell you what to do! This is pay back for all those times you've tried to take over MY gang!"

Asura slammed his head into the floor. Lord Death surged forward at his son's cry of pain. Asura threw his knife. The weapon landed dead in Lord Death's chest. He stumbled back onto the floor, griping the protruding object.

"This is pay back for you trying to be something that you never could! If I'm not the leader of the gang, no one is!" Asura gripped Kid around the neck and clenched. His fists grew white. Kid struggled for air as his trachea was constricted.

Kid's hands flew up and gripped at his brother's vice like fingers that were slowly pulling the air out of his body. His legs flailed and his hands tried to pry the murderous grip off around his neck.

"This is what you get, baby brother, for being an idiot. For being stupid. For being someone you're not." Kid's hands felt numb. Oxygen leaked out of his lungs and burned him from the inside out.

Kid's fingers struggled before going limp and falling still against Asura's hands. He stopped kicking; his body kept still and his eyes stared blankly at Asura. "Good night, brother, don't let the demons bite."

"You're going to kill him, Asura! Stop it! Please!"

"No, father, this is what he gets, what you get, when you try to go against what I want!" Anger burned like a flashing fire cracker in the madman's eyes. Lord Death ripped the knife out of his chest and leapt forward.

Asura saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He loosened his grip on his brother, Kid took a deep rattling breath, his broken chest fluttering up like broken butterfly wings. Asura had just turned around and saw his father running towards him, blood pouring from the wound in his chest.

"Leave my son alone! I love him!"

Kid's eyes widened. _'He _loves_ me? No one has ever loved me before.'_

Determination shined in Kid's eyes. _'Looks like I have a new objective.' _The lines on his lips bent and twisted as Kid yelled. His hand reached down. "Die Asura! You're not worthy of the title 'brother'!"

Death stopped and stared. Asura fell to the floor. Yet, not a single blow had been landed to him. Not even a wound had been inflicted onto his body. Asura curled around his hand and screamed for the afterlife to hear.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Too late, it looks like I beat you to it." Kid breathed heavily, staring with pained eyes at his wailing older brother. Death shot his gaze at Kid, who caught his confused eyes and looked at him in turn. Kid smiled gently, gingerly, and grimaced. With slow anguished eyes he led his father's gaze to his hand.

Death's eyes widened and he felt his knees buckle beneath him. His legs failed him and he crumbled to the floor. His heart stopped dead in his chest as his gaze came to a stop on his youngest son's wrist.

Blood walked small ruts down Kid's wrist and gathered in a small puddle on the floor. A large SOG Seal Knife 2000 stuck out of Kid's hand- right where the small scar had been- cutting the small symbol on half.

"The received scar is the mark of the bond. If any harm is to come to the scar by breaking or cutting of the flesh the counterpart will die and by constitution of the rules so will the person bearing the broken scar. A bond could last for eternity or for seconds. It depends on if you value your life as much as your counterpart's."

Kid laughed ruefully. "I knew I was going to kill someone with this knife. What I didn't know was that I would be killing two members of the death family with one strike."

Tears leaked silently from Lord Death's golden orbs. His knees were soaked with blood from the bodies all around, but he didn't seem to notice at all. His gaze was dead locked on his son's slowly paling hand as more and more blood seeped out.

"Kid, you idiot," Lord Death whispered as sobs rattled his frame. His shoulders shook, "Why did you do it?"

"Because you said you loved me. And I can't let someone who loves me die. After Asura was finished with me he would have gone after you. I was going to die anyway, so why waste more time? The quicker the better."

Lord Death shook his head. More tears seeped from his eyes. "You don't get it do you?" Kid tilted his head painfully to the side, his brows furrowed together and his eyes narrowed in confusion. "Yes, you killed Asura, but you won't die." Lord Death's voice hitched. He turned his face away from his son in shame.

His hand gripped the wound in his chest. Blood walked out sluggishly and coated his fingers slowly. "But the rules of the pledge say that if I kill him I will die as well. That's what the rules say. Now you're telling me I won't die?! What kind of fucked up game are you playing?!" he shouted.

Kid winced and coughed. Flecks of blood jumped out of his mouth and dotted his intensely pale arms. His eyes widened. His chest was burning and he was slowly struggling to inhale properly. _'Shit. Must've broken something.'_

Death looked at his son, alarmed.

"Kid, we have to get you back to Stein, you're hurt." The man stood up and wobbled over to his son. Kid pushed himself away from the approaching man, but winced and stopped. "Tell me what's going on! I'm not going anywhere before you tell me!"

Lord Death crouched down in front of his son and looked him in the eyes. Seriousness consumed all traces of compassion and worry that would have been found in Shinigami-sama's eyes and it sent shivers flying up Kid's spine.

"My duty as the Grim Reaper forces me to take your life. You have taken the life of the one who had entrusted his soul to you, the greatest betrayal known to man. You're soul is stained and soiled and must be cleansed by the hands of death._ 'The one who breaks the bond of soul by killing and/or inflicting physical pain upon the counterpart will meet the fate of Death.' _I am Death, Kid."

Kid looked more confused than ever. Lord Death stood up, taking his son with him. The Reaper's hands griped his son by the shoulders. "I still don't understand... father?" It felt weird saying his name. It just... didn't roll off his tongue as easily as he knew it was supposed to. Memories were slowly beginning to flow back into his brain.

"Kid, I'm sorry, but I can't change anything. It's... one of the rules. Rules cannot be broken."

"You're not making any sense!" Kid shouted as he was softy coaxed into walking out the door. A weird feeling settled over Kid's body. His brain stopped thinking about what his father was doing to him and he became more compliant. He just did as his father ordered, without him really wanting to.

Kid's legs took charge and walked on their own accord. More and more Kid was beginning to FEEL that what his father was doing was right and not wrong. "What's happening to me?"

"Kid, you know the feeling you get just before you're about to die; your whole life flashes before your eyes? Well, you better get ready for one hell of a headache."

"I don't understand. Why am I not afraid to die?" Kid looked at his hand as his scar began to burn faintly. The wound healed shut. His eyes widened. Slowly the scar faded, not completely gone, but rather like a tattoo that grew old- like the paint had faded.

"The scar is getting your body ready for your punishment. It's getting you ready for death. It's getting you ready for me. I'm sorry Kid, but just like it's impossible for me not to take your life- it's impossible for you not to comply. You have to do it. Whether your brain wants to or not, the scar is forcing your body to do as the rules are written.

"It's just like breathing, even if you don't want to breath you can't help but do it anyway."

"But I still don't-" A knife flew passed their heads and slammed into the exit. "You're not going anywhere!" The two wheeled around and saw Asura struggling to his feet, griping his wound. His skin was slowly beginning to fade to black from where the scar was. His hands trembled as he held a controller in his tightly gripped fingers.

"If I die, so does the city!"

His finger pressed down on the only button on the controller and the earth beneath their feet began shaking. With that final act finished the controller dropped from his withered hand and clattered to the floor, followed shortly with his body. The building around them shook. "The bombs! We have to go NOW!" Lord Death, sensing his son's distress picked him up and slung him over his shoulder.

Yeah, Kid was lean and well muscled, but he had nothing compared to his father. Carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders can make a person strong. With strong legs Death began running from the building.

The foundations were cracking and the beautifully sculptured architecture around them crumpled, falling uselessly to the ground below. The building that took a lifetime to build took seconds to shatter.

As all the bricks and cement and concrete and plaster came plummeting down, so did all the lies that were ever hidden behind the walls of stone. As the castle-like walls broke to nothing but piles of rubble and useless garbage so did all the facades that Lord Death had been hiding behind for so VERY long.

There's nothing to hide behind.

"Kid," Lord Death shouted as he dodged a dislodged beam and ducked from falling bricks, "I can't help what will happen next, so I'm going to apologise in advance. There is no stopping me from sentencing you to death, but that doesn't mean I don't love you. You've done wrong, but at least you saw the error of your ways.

"That is what makes you special. That is what sets you apart from Asura. That is what sets you apart from all the evil in the world and that is what makes me love you. Because no matter how far you stray, you'll always find your way back to what is right. I love you, son."

"I love you too, dad, I love you. I'm sorry for everything I did."

'_I love you and I forgive you.'_

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"If we got rid of our demons, we'll get rid of our angels"

-Tennessee Williams

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	12. Epilogue

Epilogue

"Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending."

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

'_A great man once said that every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. He also said that fear is what gives us strength. If fear is what gives us strength, why did I feel so incredibly weak when they took me?_

'_Why did my legs feel like blades of grass in a hurricane when they told me that they were ready for me? Why, if fear makes you strong, did I want to break down and sob myself into oblivion over something that was inevitable?_

'_Because, truth is, fear is a state of mind. It is uncontrollable and it is undeniably strong. Fear is a four letter word that can make you... or break you. It depends on what you do with it. It depends on if you can take that fear, harness it and ride it to your advantage. If not... _

'_I don't know. If you can't handle the heat, you'll melt. You'll get consumed by fear and you'll get taken by madness. Fear is powerful and uncontrollable. Always know that you should be cautious with fear, but never reject it. Embrace it and let it lead you. Let it be the guard rail on your journey to whatever it is you want to succeed._

'_Father always told me that everything happens for a reason. He told me that without pain and death there would be no point to life. Just like playing a video game where you put in the cheat code to never die. What's the point if everything comes easy?_

'_Still doesn't stop me from cheating, though.'_

The professor looked up. The boy, no older than ten, looked at the ground and played with the ring in his hand. He had black hair that was styled into something that looked like an EMO kid would have as a hair style. "This was very well written for someone your age, Kid."

"That's not my name." Whispered the boy angrily, some of the frustration leaking into his words. "Right, right, I forgot- you like to be called... uuhm... Valprè... like the still spring water."

The professor leaned forward. "Is there a reason you don't want to be called Kid?"

"Yes. It's because Kid was the name of that guy who blew up the entire city. He's evil." The man behind the desk laughed loudly, making the boy frown angrily. "WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?! It's not funny! I don't know why my dad named me after him!" The boy threw his ring at the professor's head while stomping his feet angrily and trampling around in a small circle, his hands flying up to his hair.

The man stopped laughing and looked at the young boy seriously. "Death the Kid wasn't the one who blew up the whole city. That would be his evil brother, Asura. Don't the teachers teach you anything in history?" Professor Stein pushed up his glasses and pulled out a cigarette. The boy stopped ranting and glared at the small stick between Stein's teeth.

"Miss Marie says that Kid was evil."

The professor laid the essay down and walked around his desk. Stein crouched down and took the cigarette from his mouth. He laid his warm hand on the boy's shoulder and looked him in the eye. His glasses reflected the midnight gold from the boy's eyes.

"Listen... Valprè, Kid might have done some things wrong in his life time, that I don't deny, but doing something wrong doesn't make you evil, if you keep doing what is wrong without recognising that what you are doing is hurting others- now that is evil."

The boy looked at his feet again. He toyed with his fingers and did his best to avoid the older man's gaze. Feeling suddenly threw off he tried another defence. "But Miss Marie said-"

"Oh that woman was always confused!" Interrupted Stein and shook his head wildly, some of his hair falling between his glinting sight-enhancers. "She didn't even know which way the toilet was and now you're telling me she knows _everything_?" Valprè laughed timidly and looked up at his mentor. The gap between his teeth made him look younger than he was.

"Listen to me. Your father named you after his second son because he loved him, despite his mistakes. He was proud of his second son, no matter what he did, because Death the Kid made right his wrongs."

The boy looked up, his golden eyes shining brightly. "Really?! Did father really forgive him after all that he did wrong?" The professor nodded. "Yes he did, so you should be proud of getting to be called Death the Kid 2nd. Would you really trade all that love and compassion for something as stupid as: Valprè the Still Water?"

The boy shook his head enthusiastically and made a disgusted face. "NO! That's just stupid! Why would I want to be called something like that?!" The boy shuddered overdramatically at the thought of being called anything but the awesome name he inherited from his late brother.

"My point exactly. Here's your test, you did well, nothing to fear." The boy took his test and glanced at his score. "ALL RIGHT! I didn't fail this time!" He ran from the room, calling out over his shoulder. "Thanks Professor Stein!" Seconds later he ran back in and grabbed his ring from the desk; it was the ring his father gave him. Death the Kid's ring. Now Death the Kid 2nd's favourite possession.

Before the man could have another word in the little bundle of black headed energy was out of the classroom. He could've sworn he saw a cloud of dust trailing after him. The little guy was fast.

The man listened as the boy ran down the hallway shouting. "Dad, dad- COME LOOK! I got 40% on my test this time!" Stein shook his head and lit his cigarette. He took a long drag before slowly blowing out the smoke. "Should turn the paper around, you idiot, you got 70." The man walked back around his desk and sat down heavily.

He closed the book he was writing and settled back into his chair, closing his eyes tiredly. The stick between his fingers burned lazily as the man reclined and put his feet onto his desk. He yawned and took another pull from his stick of pleasure.

'_The History of Shinigami.' _

He had been working on that for the past year and he was only half way finished. "Really, Lord Death, I know you have to have a successor and have no choice in having more kid's, but really- try to have more Asura's because honestly, these _**Kid's**_ are driving me mad."

Without finishing the cigarette he put it out and flicked it into the trash. Maybe he should quit. "Nah, maybe another time. It's not like I'm going to have an accidental death because of it. Not at all." Stein closed his eyes and let himself drift slowly off into oblivion. Hopefully Death the Kid, the still water, will be less trouble than his brother... nah, maybe another time...

Half way done.

One Kid down. Another to go.

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The End~

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